Point of Ayre Lighthouse

Last updated

Point of Ayre Lighthouse
Point of Ayre Lighthouse - geograph.org.uk - 1729732.jpg
The High light in 2010
Point of Ayre Lighthouse
LocationPoint of Ayre, Isle of Man
Coordinates 54°24′56.7″N4°22′05.2″W / 54.415750°N 4.368111°W / 54.415750; -4.368111
Tower
Constructed1818  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Constructionlimestone tower
Automated1993
Height30 metres (98 ft)
Shapecylindrical tower with balcony and lantern
Markingswhite tower with two broad red bands, black lantern
Operator Northern Lighthouse Board   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Heritage registered building   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Racon M  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Light
First lit1818
Focal height32 metres (105 ft)
Range19 nautical miles (35 km; 22 mi)
Characteristic Fl (4) W 20s.
Point of Ayre Low Light OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Lighthouses, Point of Ayre - geograph.org.uk - 762180.jpg
Constructed1888  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Constructionconcrete  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Height10 m (33 ft)  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Heritage registered building   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Deactivated7 April 2010  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Focal height10 m (33 ft)  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Range8 nmi (15 km; 9.2 mi)  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Characteristic Fl W 3s (2010)  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

The Point of Ayre Lighthouse is an active 19th century lighthouse, sited at the Point of Ayre at the north-eastern end of the Isle of Man. It was designed and built by Robert Stevenson, grandfather of prolific writer and novelist Robert Louis Stevenson, under the Isle of Man and Calf of Man Lighthouses Act 1815 (55 Geo. 3. c. lxvii) and was first lit in 1818, making it the oldest operational lighthouse on the island. [1] [2]

Contents

Description

The lighthouse still retains its original 1st order Fresnel lens from 1890, which was supplied by Barbier, Benard, et Turenne of Paris. With a focal height or elevation of 32 metres (105 ft) above sea level, the light from the 30 metres (98 ft) tower has a nominal range of around 19 nautical miles (35 km). Its light characteristic is made up of a pattern of four flashes of white light every twenty seconds. The tower has a distinctive daymark of two red bands, the light can be seen clearly from across the water in south-west Scotland. [1]

Owing to the continuous accumulation of shingle and gravel deposited by the strong currents, a smaller light commonly referred to as a 'winkie' had to be built 750 feet (230 m) to the seaward side of the main tower in 1899. This was then repositioned a further 250 feet (76 m) in the same direction and for the same reasons in 1950. The 'winkie' light was discontinued on 7 April 2010. [1] [2]

The lighthouse buildings and land have been in private ownership since 1993 when the light was fully automated. The light continues to be maintained by the Northern Lighthouse Board based in Edinburgh. In August, 2005, the fog signal at the lighthouse was decommissioned owing to the assumed reliance and availability of GPS and modern shipping guidance systems. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bell Rock Lighthouse</span> Worlds oldest working sea-washed lighthouse, off the coast of Angus, Scotland

The Bell Rock Lighthouse, off the coast of Angus, Scotland, is the world's oldest surviving sea-washed lighthouse. It was built between 1807 and 1810 by Robert Stevenson on the Bell Rock in the North Sea, 11 miles (18 km) east of the Firth of Tay. Standing 35 metres (115 ft) tall, its light is visible from 35 statute miles (56 km) inland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graemsay</span> Island in western Orkney, Scotland, UK

Graemsay is an island in the western approaches to Scapa Flow, in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. The island has two lighthouses. Graemsay lies within the parish of Stromness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mull of Galloway</span> Human settlement in Scotland

The Mull of Galloway is the southernmost point of Scotland. It is situated in Wigtownshire, Dumfries and Galloway, at the end of the Rhins of Galloway peninsula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muckle Flugga Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse in the Shetland Islands

Muckle Flugga lighthouse punctuates the rocky stack of Muckle Flugga, in Shetland, Scotland. Originally called North Unst Lighthouse, it was renamed in 1964.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dubh Artach</span> Remote skerry off the west coast of Scotland

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tarbat Ness Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse

The Tarbat Ness Lighthouse is located at the North West tip of the Tarbat Ness peninsula near the fishing village of Portmahomack on the east coast of Scotland. It was built in 1830 by Robert Stevenson and has an elevation of 53 metres (174 ft) and 203 steps to the top of the tower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Wrath Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse in Sutherland, Scotland

Cape Wrath Lighthouse at Cape Wrath was built in 1828 by Robert Stevenson and was manned until 1998, when it was converted to automatic operation by the Northern Lighthouse Board. It is located at the most North-Westerly point on the British mainland, in the traditional county of Sutherland within Highland Region. Durness is the closest village, 10 miles (16 km) to the south-east with Inverness around 120 miles (190 km) to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas Head Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse on the Isle of Man

Douglas Head Lighthouse is a lighthouse at Douglas Head on the Isle of Man located between England and Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esha Ness Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse

Eshaness Lighthouse is situated on the Northmavine peninsula in the north-west of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. It sometimes rendered as Esha Ness Lighthouse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Cleveland Light</span> Lighthouse in Queensland, Australia

Cape Cleveland Light is an active heritage-listed lighthouse located on the northern tip of Cape Cleveland, a promontory projecting into the Coral Sea west of Cleveland Bay in the locality of Cape Cleveland about 40 kilometres (25 mi) east of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. The lighthouse marks the northern point of the Cape, and the entrance to Cleveland Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ardnamurchan Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse

Ardnamurchan Lighthouse is a listed 19th century lighthouse, located on Ardnamurchan Point in Lochaber part of the Highland council area of Scotland. The lighthouse with its 36-metre-tall (118 ft), pink granite tower was completed in 1849 to a design by Alan Stevenson. It is the only lighthouse in the UK built in the Egyptian style. Mains electricity was installed in 1976, the light was automated in 1988 and is now operated remotely by the Northern Lighthouse Board from Edinburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinnaird Head Lighthouses</span> Lighthouse

There are two lighthouses located on Kinnaird Head, in Fraserburgh, Scotland: an historical one built in a converted castle; and its modern replacement, built in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eilean Glas Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse

Eilean Glas Lighthouse is situated on the east coast of the island of Scalpay in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. It was one of the original four lights commissioned by the Commissioners of the Northern Lights, and the first in the Hebrides. These lighthouses were built by Thomas Smith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barra Head Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse on the Outer Hebrides, Scotland

Barra Head Lighthouse on Barra Head identifies the southern entrance to The Minch, roughly halfway between the Eilean Glas and Rinns of Islay lighthouses. The 58-foot (18-metre) stone tower, built in 1833, stands on the west side of the island, at the top of a very steep cliff, making the light the highest in the UK with a focal plane of 208 m (682 ft) above sea level. It has a range of 18 nautical miles. There is no shallow water west of Berneray to break the blow of the Atlantic storms and small fish are sometimes thrown onto the grass on the cliff top. In 1836 Sir Archibald Geikie recorded the movement of a 42-long-ton (43-tonne) block of gneiss across 5 feet (1.5 m) of ground during a violent storm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noss Head Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse

The Noss Head Lighthouse is an active 19th-century lighthouse near Wick in Caithness in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is located at the end of Noss Head, a peninsula on the north-west coast of Caithness that overlooks Sinclairs Bay, three miles north-east of Wick. It is notable as being the first lighthouse that was built with a diagonally-paned lantern room.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicken Rock Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse

The Chicken Rock Lighthouse is an active 19th-century lighthouse, located on Chicken Rock, an isolated island at the southern end of the Isle of Man. Completed in 1874, the 44-metre-high (144 ft) tower is constructed of tapered granite and was designed by David and Thomas Stevenson. The need for the light on Chicken Rock was identified as early as 1866, due to the problem of fog obscuring the two lights on the nearby Calf of Man. As these lights formed a transit with the Chickens, the loss of any one exposed shipping to danger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maughold Head Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse

Maughold Head Lighthouse is an active 20th century lighthouse, located on the headland of the same name at the southern end of Ramsey Bay on the eastern coast of the Isle of Man. Completed in 1914, it was designed by David A and Charles Stevenson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruvaal Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse in Scotland

The Ruvaal, Rhuvaal, or Rubh'a' Mhàil Lighthouse is a listed 19th-century lighthouse located at the north-eastern end of the island of Islay, in the Inner Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland. The active lighthouse marks the northern approaches to the Sound of Islay, a narrow channel separating Islay from the adjacent island of Jura, and is one of the seven lighthouses operated by the Northern Lighthouse Board, which act as maritime aids to navigation on and around Islay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Girdle Ness Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse in Aberdeen, Scotland

Girdle Ness Lighthouse is situated near Torry Battery on the Girdle Ness peninsula just south of the entrance to Aberdeen's harbour, in Scotland. It is an active light, managed by the Northern Lighthouse Board.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the Isle of Man". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "Point of Ayre". Northern Lighthouse Board. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2016.