Girdle Ness Lighthouse

Girdle Ness Lighthouse (or Girdleness 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.[1]

Girdle Ness Lighthouse
Girdle Ness Lighthouse
Scotland
LocationBalnagask, Aberdeen, Scotland
Coordinates57°08′20″N 02°02′56″W
Year first constructed1833[1]
Automated1991[1]
Tower shapetapered cylindrical tower[2]
Markings / patternwhite round tower, black lantern[1]
Tower height37 metres (121 ft)
Focal height56 m (184 ft)[1]
Light sourcemains electricity, DC reserve[1]
Range22 nautical miles (41 km; 25 mi)[1]
CharacteristicFl(2) W 20s.[1]
RaconG 
Admiralty numberA3246[2]
NGA number2696[2]
ARLHS numberSCO-089[2]
Managing agentNorthern Lighthouse Board[1]
Heritagecategory A listed building 

Description

The tower is a tapering cylinder, painted white, with a watch room about a third of the way up. The lantern is black and there is a gallery. The tower is 37 metres (121 ft) tall and there are 182 steps to the lantern. Adjacent is single-storey keepers' accommodation (which has been sold off) and ancillary buildings. DGPS is provided via two radio towers. The light was automated in 1991 and is continuously monitored on-line from the Northern Lighthouse Board headquarters in Edinburgh. There is no public access to the lighthouse.[1][2] Racon was installed after 1968.[3] It is a Category A listed building.[4]

History

In 1813 the whaler Oscar was blown ashore in a storm into Greyhope Bay, at the entrance to Aberdeen Harbour. Despite rescue attempts only two men of the forty four on board were saved. The disaster had nothing to do with the lack of a light – the crew were drunk and incapable – but there were strong calls for a lighthouse to be built on the headland above the bay and this was achieved twenty years later.[5]

For the construction, the engineer was Robert Stevenson and the principal contractor was James Gibb. The construction was completed in 1833 and the light was first lit on 15 October– Alexander Slight became the resident inspector and Alan Stevenson the resident engineer. Originally sperm oil was used in eighteen Argand burners giving a fixed light at the focus of a 21 inches (530 mm) diameter silvered-copper parabolic reflector. In 1847 a dioptric light was installed and the previous lantern was transferred to Inchkeith Lighthouse. In 1870 paraffin was used experimentally. In 1890 the light was replaced by a single 200,000 candlepower revolving light. Until that time there had been a second level of thirteen lights with a similar reflector at the height of the watch room so as to display white lights at two levels.[3][6][7] As a member of a Royal Commission the Astronomer Royal, George Airy, visited in 1860. He said it was "the best lighthouse that I have seen".[5][8]

Foghorn
The "Torry Coo"

Until 1987 the associated foghorn was operated when visibility was less than 5 nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi). It was nicknamed the "Torry Coo" (alluding to the "Turra Coo") because it sounded like a cow – one that could be heard twenty miles away. Although it is no longer used, the siren has been preserved.[1][3][5]

See also

References
  1. "Northern Lighthouse Board - Girdle Ness". www.nlb.org.uk. Northern Lighthouse Board. Archived from the original on 29 May 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  2. Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Eastern Scotland, Girdle Ness (Aberdeen)". Archived from the original on 30 September 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  3. Historic Environment Scotland. "Aberdeen, Greyhope Road, Girdleness Lighthouse and Keepers' Cottages (19995)". Canmore.
  4. "Girdleness Lighthouse, Greyhope Road, Including Fog Signal at South Side at Nj 9724 0530 (lb20078)". portal.historicenvironment.scot. Historic Environment Scotland. Archived from the original on 4 April 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  5. Gillon, Jack (2018). "44". Aberdeen in 50 Buildings. Amberley Publishing. pp. 84–86. ISBN 978-1-4456-7616-6.
  6. Spencer, Michael (2009). "Section D: Arbroath to Fraserburgh (17 towers and 47 other structures)". Michael’s Comprehensive List of Scottish Lights. Archived from the original on 19 August 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  7. Keith, Alexander (1972). A thousand years of Aberdeen;. Aberdeen University Press. p. 325. ISBN 0-900015-29-2.
  8. "Girdle Ness Lighthouse from The Gazetteer for Scotland". www.scottish-places.info. School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, and Royal Scottish Geographical Society. Archived from the original on 8 September 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2019.


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