Location | Muckle Flugga, Shetland, Unst, United Kingdom |
---|---|
OS grid | HP6066619679 |
Coordinates | 60°51′19″N0°53′07″W / 60.855273°N 0.885262°W |
Tower | |
Designed by | Thomas Stevenson, David Stevenson |
Construction | masonry |
Automated | March 1995 |
Height | 20 m (66 ft) |
Shape | cylinder |
Markings | white (tower), black (lantern), ochre (trim) |
Operator | Northern Lighthouse Board |
Heritage | category A listed building |
Light | |
First lit | 1 January 1858 |
Focal height | 66 m (217 ft) |
Range | 22 nmi (41 km; 25 mi) |
Characteristic | Fl(2) W 20s |
Muckle Flugga lighthouse punctuates the rocky stack of Muckle Flugga, in Shetland, Scotland. Originally called North Unst Lighthouse, it was renamed in 1964. [1] [2]
The brothers Thomas and David Stevenson designed and built the lighthouse in 1854, originally to protect ships during the Crimean War. First lit on 1 January 1858, it stands 64 feet (20 m) high, has 103 steps to the top, and is Britain's most northerly lighthouse. The light beam flashes white every 20 seconds, with a nominal range of 22 nautical miles (41km). In March 1995 it was fully automated. [3] Thomas's son Robert Louis Stevenson, the writer, visited it as a young man. As a result, Unst became his inspiration for the map of "Treasure Island". The lighthouse was served by the Grace Darling which was launched from the boat house below the lighthouse shore station in Burrafirth. Supplies were winched up by the blondin cable hoist to the courtyard, from the boat in a natural cleft of the rocks that provides a degree of harbourage.
This lighthouse was also used as a setting for the wartime comedy Back-Room Boy .
In 1851 it was decided to build a lighthouse on north Unst but, because of difficulties in determining the exact location, nothing had been done by the start of 1854. During the Crimean War, the government urged the commissioners to set up a light on Muckle Flugga to protect Her Majesty's ships. A temporary lighthouse 50 feet (15 m) high was built 200 feet (61 m) above sea level and lit on 11 October 1854. It was thought to be high and safe enough to withstand the elements, but when winter storms began waves broke heavily on the tower and burst open the door to the living quarters. The principal keeper reported that 40 feet (12 m) of stone dyke had been broken down, and the keepers had no dry place to sit or sleep. Plans were made for a higher and more permanent lighthouse, but there were still disagreements about where to locate it, Muckle Flugga or Lamba Ness. The orders to start the work on the new Muckle Flugga tower were finally given in June 1855. The lighthouse's original name was "North Unst", but in 1964 that was changed to "Muckle Flugga". [3] [4]
Muckle Flugga was one of the few lighthouses in Scotland which had a separate shore station that served as accommodation for the lighthouse keepers when they were off duty (similar to Sule Skerry and its shore station in Stromness, Orkney). The shore station was sold off when the lighthouse was automated. Part of the building now hosts the Hermaness Visitor Centre at the entrance to the neighbouring Hermaness National Nature Reserve, which is managed by NatureScot.
Bressay Lighthouse is a lighthouse in the Shetland Islands, Scotland, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) south-east of Lerwick. It is located on the island of Bressay at Kirkabister Ness overlooking Bressay Sound.
Unst is one of the North Isles of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. It is the northernmost of the inhabited British Isles and is the third-largest island in Shetland after Mainland and Yell. It has an area of 46 sq mi (120 km2).
The North Isles are the northern islands of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. The main islands in the group are Yell, Unst and Fetlar. Sometimes the islands in Yell Sound are included in this group.
Balta is an uninhabited island in Shetland, Scotland.
Out Stack or Ootsta is an island in Shetland, and the northernmost point of Scotland, the United Kingdom, and the British Isles.
Muckle Flugga is a small rocky island north of Unst in the Shetland Islands, Scotland. It is often described as the northernmost point of the British Isles, but the smaller islet of Out Stack is actually further north. It used to be the northernmost inhabited island, but forfeited that accolade to Unst when Muckle Flugga Lighthouse was automated in 1995 and the last residents moved out.
The Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) is the general lighthouse authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man. It is a non-departmental public body responsible for marine navigation aids around coastal areas.
Hermaness is the northernmost headland of Unst, the most northerly inhabited island of Shetland, Scotland. It consists of huge sea cliffs and moorland, making it an ideal habitat for a variety of birds. Hermaness was designated a national nature reserve (NNR) in 1955. The NNR extends over 965 hectares, including the whole of the Hermaness peninsula and the outlying Muckle Flugga and Out Stack. The reserve has a path and boardwalk that extends out onto the moorland. The reserve is managed by NatureScot, though it remains in private ownership, with most being owned by the Buness Estate, although the stacks and skerries around Muckle Flugga are owned by the Northern Lighthouse Board.
Fidra is a currently uninhabited island in the Firth of Forth, 4 kilometres northwest of North Berwick, on the east coast of Scotland. The island is an RSPB Scotland nature reserve.
Skerryvore is a remote island that lies off the west coast of Scotland, 11 nautical miles southwest of Tiree. Skerryvore Lighthouse is located on these rocks, built with some difficulty between 1838 and 1844 by Alan Stevenson.
Dubh Artach is a remote skerry of basalt rock off the west coast of Scotland lying 18 miles (29 km) west of Colonsay and 15 miles (24 km) south-west of the Ross of Mull.
Muckle Skerry is the largest of the Pentland Skerries that lie off the north coast of Scotland. It is home to the Pentland Skerries Lighthouse.
Yell Sound is the Sound running between Yell and Mainland, Shetland, Scotland. It is the boundary between the Mainland and the North Isles, and it contains many small islands. Sullom Voe, on the shores of which is a substantial oil terminal, is an arm of Yell Sound.
The New Year's Day Storm, known in Scotland as the 'Hogmanay Hurricane', was an extremely powerful and record-breaking European windstorm, comparable to a category 4 major hurricane, that affected much of northern Scotland and western Norway on 1 January 1992. DNMI estimated the strongest sustained winds and the strongest gusts to have reached 103 mph and 138 mph, respectively. Unofficial records of gusts in excess of 170 knots (87 m/s) were recorded in Shetland, while Statfjord-B in the North Sea recorded wind gusts in excess of 145 knots (75 m/s). There were very few fatalities, mainly due to the rather low population of the islands, the fact that the islanders are used to powerful winds, and because it struck in the morning on a public holiday when people were indoors. In Norway there was one fatality, in Frei, Møre og Romsdal county. There were also two fatalities on Unst in the Shetland Isles. Despite being referred to by some as a 'Hurricane', the storm was Extratropical in origin and is classified as an Extratropical Cyclone.
The Holm of Skaw is a small islet off the northeast coast of the island of Unst. It is just northeast of the settlement of Skaw. The island is 57 feet (17 m) in height. There is a lighthouse on the island. Tidal currents are slack between Holm of Skaw and Herma Ness at high water, and the passage may be made by small boats. The Skaw Röst, a dangerous tidal race, forms off the shore of the Holm of Skaw and Lamba Ness.
Events from the year 1858 in Scotland.
Events from the year 1854 in Scotland.
The Cantick Head Lighthouse is an active 19th century lighthouse on the Scottish island of South Walls in the Orkney Islands. It is located at the end of Cantick Head, a long peninsula on the south-eastern coast of South Walls that overlooks the Pentland Firth and the Sound of Hoxa, which forms the southern entry to the natural harbour of Scapa Flow.
Muckle may refer to: