Lighthouses of Scotland's Western Isles

This page covers lighthouses of the Western Isles of Scotland, often called the Outer Hebrides. The lighthouses of the Inner Hebrides appear on the Scotland West Coast page. The islands are accessible by air or by Caledonian MacBrayne ferries from various locations in western Scotland. The four light stations reasonably accessible without a boat are all on or close to the Isle of Lewis, which is accessible by ferry from Ullapool in the northern Highlands or from Uig on the Isle of Skye. The Northern Lighthouse Board manages all the lighthouses of the Western Isles except for the harbor lights of Stornoway, the largest town of the islands. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from Volume A of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA numbers are from Publication 114. What's Hot: Despite fraud conviction, owner allowed to keep Eilean Glas Light General Sources Northern Lighthouse Board The Board's web site includes information and photos for many of the lighthouses. Lighthouse Beacons from Scotland Photos and very brief accounts posted by Sharma Krauskopf for her e-journal Scottish Radiance. Scotland Photos posted by Alexander Trabas, a German lighthouse fan. The Stevensons The history of Scotland's remarkable family of lighthouse engineers, posted by David Taylor.

Butt of Lewis Light photo copyright Ian Wright; used by permission Eilean Glas Light photo copyright Ian Wright; used by permission

Rona and Sula Sgeir Lighthouses
Rona (Toa Rona, North Rona)

1984. Active; focal plane 114 m (374 ft); three white flashes, separated by 3.1 s, every 20 s. 13 m (42 ft) lantern atop a square equipment building, painted white. Two other small buildings nearby. Charles Tait has a good photo. Rona is an uninhabited island roughly 70 km (45 mi) north northeast of the Butt of Lewis; it is often called North Rona to distinguish it from another Rona (which also has a lighthouse) in the Inner Hebrides (see Scotland West Coast page). Located atop a hill at the northern end of the island. Accessible only by boat in difficult seas (boats can be chartered from Lewis). Site open, tower closed. Operator: Northern Lighthouse Board. Site manager: Rona and Sula Sgeir National Nature Reserve. ARLHS SCO-153; Admiralty A3869; NGA 3574.

Sula Sgeir

Date unknown. Active; focal plane 74 m (243 ft); white flash every 15 s. 5 m (17 ft) square 1-story metal structure, painted white. A 2007 photo and a distant view of the island are available. Sula Sgeir is a small, rocky island about 70 km north of the Butt of Lewis and 20 km (12.5 mi) west southwest of Rona. The island is known for its seabird breeding colonies, especially the gannets (sula) for which it is named. Accessible only by boat in difficult seas (boats can be chartered from Lewis). Site and tower closed. Site manager: Rona and Sula Sgeir National Nature Reserve. ARLHS SCO-230; Admiralty A3870; NGA 3572.

Lewis and Harris Lighthouses

* Butt Of Lewis 1862 (David and Thomas Stevenson). Active; focal plane 52 m (170 ft); white flash every 5 s. 37 m (120 ft) brick tower with lantern and gallery. The lighthouse is unpainted red brick (unusual for Scotland) with buff trim; the lantern is painted black. 2-story keeper's house and other light station buildings. The tower also carries antennas for the Differential Global Positioning Service (DGPS). A photo appears above, a panorama of the site is available, and Google has a satellite view. This was one of the last Scottish lighthouses to be automated, in 1998. Located at the northernmost tip of the island, about 5 km (3 mi) northwest of Port Ness; this is reputed to be the windiest place in the United Kingdom. Accessible by road. Site open, tower closed. Operator: Northern Lighthouse Board. ARLHS SCO-027; Admiralty A3968; NGA 3820. * Tiumpan Head 1900 (David A. and Charles Stevenson). Active; focal plane 55 m (180 ft); two white flashes every 15 s. 21 m (69 ft) masonry tower with lantern and gallery attached to 1- and 2-story keeper's houses. Lighthouse painted white with buff trim; lantern painted black. The keeper's houses are now occupied by a kennel and cattery. A photo appears at right. Located at the end of the Eye Peninsula about 14 km (9 mi) northeast of Stornoway; Google has a satellite view. Accessible by road. Site open, tower closed. Operator: Northern Lighthouse Board. Site manager: Tiumpan Head Kennels & Cattery. ARLHS SCO-242; Admiralty A3972; NGA 3824. * Arnish Point 1853 (Alan Stevenson). Active; focal plane 17 m (56 ft); flash every 10 s, white or red depending on direction. 14 m (46 ft) cylindrical masonry tower, painted white; lantern painted black. 1-story keeper's house. Charles Tait has a fine photo, Google has a satellite view, and Klaus Huelse has a historic postcard view. Located on a headland on the west side of the entrance to Stornoway Harbour, about 5 km (3 mi) south of town. The area is accessible by road; a short walk may be needed to reach the lighthouse. Site open, tower closed. Operator: Northern Lighthouse Board. ARLHS SCO-010; Admiralty A3976; NGA 3828. [Milaid Point (2)] Date unknown (station established 1912). Active; focal plane 17 m (56 ft); white flash every 15 s. 7 m (24 ft) square skeletal tower, the upper portion enclosed with white panels. Google has a fuzzy satellite view. Located on a headland about 6 km (3.5 mi) east of Leumrabhagh. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. Operator: Northern Lighthouse Board. ARLHS SCO-136; Admiralty A3984; NGA 3860. Rubh Uisenis Date unknown (station established 1937). Active; focal plane 24 m (79 ft); white flash every 5 s. 7 m (23 ft) round cylindrical tower with lantern and gallery, painted white. John Maclennan has a photo, and Google has a satellite view. The light guides ships through the strait between the Shiant Islands and the southeastern coast of the Isle of Lewis. More information is needed on this lighthouse: it may be the original, but that tower was listed as 9 m (30 ft) tall. Located on a headland about 15 km (9 mi) northeast of Scalpay. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. Operator: Northern Lighthouse Board. ARLHS SCO-192; Admiralty A3986; NGA 3864.

Tiumpan Head Light, August 2004 Creative Commons photo by Dick Davies

* Eilean Glas (2)

1824 (Robert Stevenson). Station established 1789. Active; focal plane 43 m (141 ft); three white flashes, separated by 2 s, every 20 s. 30 m (98 ft) masonry tower with lantern and gallery attached to a 1-story keeper's house. The 2° Fresnel lens (1907) is on display as the Science Museum in South Kensington, London. Lighthouse painted with horizontal red and white bands; lantern painted black. Scotland's fourth oldest light station, the oldest on the west coast. Trabas has an excellent closeup photo, Charles Tait also has photos, and Google has a satellite view. The light station was sold in 1984 to Brenda and Robert Ford-Sagers. In 1996, Ms. Ford-Sagers created a bogus trust called Friends of Eilean Glas and used it to pay herself £50,000 pounds for her own lighthouse. She was convicted of fraud in 2004 and ordered to sell the property; preservationists organized themselves to buy it. In 2006, however, and appeals court reversed the order, and Ford-Sagers remains in ownership. Located on a small island (accessible at low tide) at the eastern end of Scalpay, a island in the mouth of East Loch Tarbert. Accessible by a hike of about 3 km (2 mi) roundtrip from the end of the road southeast of Scalpay village. Site open, tower closed. Operator: Northern Lighthouse Board. ARLHS SCO-069; Admiralty A3990; NGA 3868.

Sgeir Ghlas

Date unknown. Active; focal plane 9 m (29 ft); white, red, or green light depending on direction, 2 s on, 2 s off. 5.5 m (18 ft) cylindrical concrete tower with lantern and gallery, painted white. Dave Fergusson has a 2007 photo. Located on a small island in East Loch Tarbert about 5 km (3 mi) southeast of Tarbert. Accessible only by boat; good views from ferries between Tarbert and Uig on the Isle of Skye. Site open, tower closed. Operator: Northern Lighthouse Board. ARLHS SCO-207; Admiralty A3993; NGA 3876.

* Leverburgh (Laimhrig Mhor)

Date unknown. Active; focal plane 5 m (17 ft); white, red or green light depending on direction, occulting once every 8 s. 5 m (17 ft) octagonal masonry tower with lantern, painted white. Information is needed on the history of this lighthouse. Located on the west side of the harbor entrance in Leverburgh, on Harris Sound at the southern end of the Isle of Harris. Site open, tower closed. Owner/site manager: unknown. ARLHS SCO-346; Admiralty A3994.5.

Flannan Islands (Eilean Mor)

1899 (D. Alan Stevenson). Active; focal plane 101 m (330 ft); two white flashes, separated by 5.5 s, every 30 s. 23 m (75 ft) masonry tower with lantern and gallery attached to a 1-story keeper's house. Clamshell Fresnel lens. Lighthouse painted white with buff trim; lantern painted black. Charles Tait has excellent photos. This light station was the scene of a mysterious disaster in December 1900, when all three keepers disappeared; the 1980 opera The Lighthouse, by Peter Maxwell Davies, is based on this incident. Lighthouse Digest has a July 2005 article on the disappearance. Located atop the largest of a group of small uninhabited islands in the Atlantic about 35 km (22 mi) west of the Isle of Lewis. Accessible only by boat. Site and tower closed. Operator: Northern Lighthouse Board. ARLHS SCO-084; Admiralty A4028; NGA 3912.

North and South Uist Lighthouses

Shillay (Monach Isles) 1864 (David and Thomas Stevenson). Reactivated (inactive 1942-2008); focal plane 47 m (154 ft); two white flashes every 15 s. 41 m (133 ft) unpainted brick tower with lantern and gallery attached to 2-story keeper's house. The Fresnel lens remained in this tower as late as 1997, but there was a proposal then to remove it. Probably it has since been removed. Charles Tait has several excellent photos of the light station. The active light was moved to a 5.5 m (18 ft) skeletal tower on the southeast coast of the island about 250 m (800 ft) from the historic station. However, in July 2008 NLB announced that to increase the range of the light it was being moved back into the historic lighthouse. The reactivation was scheduled for July 25, 2008. Located on a small island in the western part of the uninhabited Monach group, about 11 km (7 mi) southwest of the western point of North Uist. Accessible only by boat. Site and tower closed. Operator: Northern Lighthouse Board. ARLHS SCO-137; Admiralty A4020.5; NGA 3955. Ushenish 1857 (David and Thomas Stevenson). Active; focal plane 54 m (176 ft); flash every 20 s, white or red depending on direction. 12 m (39 ft) cylindrical masonry tower with lantern and gallery. Tower painted white, watch room buff, lantern black. 1-story keeper's houses and other buildings enclosed by a stone wall. Charles Tait has a photo showing the isolated situation of this station, and Google has an excellent satellite view of the station. Located on the easternmost point of South Uist, about 7 km (4.5 mi) southeast of Loch Sgioport. Accessible only by boat. Site and tower closed. Operator: Northern Lighthouse Board. ARLHS SCO-249; Admiralty A4004; NGA 3900.

Ushenish Light; Northern Lighthouse Board photo

Barra Lighthouse
Barra Head

1833 (Robert Stevenson). Active; focal plane 208 m (683 ft); white flash every 15 s. 18 m (60 ft) masonry tower with lantern and gallery, attached to a 1-story keeper's house. Lighthouse painted white, lantern black. This historic lighthouse marks the southern entrance to the Sea of the Hebrides. Charles Tait has excellent photos, and an account of a recent visit is available. The light station is located atop spectacular vertical cliffs on the narrow western spine of Berneray, southernmost of the Western Isles. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. Operator: Northern Lighthouse Board. ARLHS SCO-016; Admiralty A4020; NGA 3952.

 

Information available on lost lighthouses:

Notable faux lighthouses:

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Posted September 28, 2005. Checked and revised October 23, 2007. Lighthouses: 14. Site copyright 2007 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.