Barra Head Lighthouse
The lighthouse in 2006 | |
| Location | Barra Head Outer Hebrides Scotland |
|---|---|
| OS grid | NL5646980399 |
| Coordinates | 56°47′08″N 7°39′13″W / 56.78544°N 7.65356°W |
| Tower | |
| Constructed | 1833 |
| Built by | Robert Stevenson |
| Construction | stone tower |
| Automated | 23 October 1980 |
| Height | 18 m (59 ft) |
| Shape | cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern attached to 1-storey keeper's house |
| Markings | white tower, black lantern. ochre trim |
| Operator | Northern Lighthouse Board |
| Heritage | category A listed building |
| Light | |
| First lit | 15 October 1833 |
| Focal height | 208 m (682 ft) |
| Lens | rotating fresnel lens |
| Range | 18 nmi (33 km) |
| Characteristic | Fl. W 15s 208m 18M (Fl.0,3 s - ec. 14.7s) |
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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 (21 mi; 33 km). 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.