Skerryvore

Skerryvore is a small, rocky island far off Scotland’s west coast, 20 kilometres southwest of Tiree. The only building on the island is the tall Skerryvore Lighthouse, completed between 1838 and 1844 by Alan Stevenson. At 48 metres it remains Scotland’s tallest lighthouse, built on a reef that stretches 13 kilometres. The rocks are ancient Lewisian gneiss, some of the oldest in Europe, worn smooth by constant Atlantic waves. More than 130 main rocks rise above the sea, including Am Bonn Sligheach and Am Bogha Ruadh. A magnetic anomaly near the reef adds to the navigational danger. The need for a light became clear after more than thirty ships were wrecked here between 1790 and 1844. Robert Stevenson, chief engineer of the Northern Lighthouse Board, surveyed the site in 1804 and again with Sir Walter Scott in 1814. Scott described the reef as a fearsome place, far worse than Bell Rock or Eddystone. Construction began in 1838 using a wooden barrack shipped from Gourock and anchored to the rock with six iron legs. The tower’s base is 13 metres wide, narrowing to 4.9 metres at the lantern gallery, and weighs 4,377 tonnes. Visitors find a stark, windswept island with the lighthouse as its only structure. The shore station at Hynish on Tiree once housed the keepers and now holds the Skerryvore Lighthouse Museum. The reef’s jagged rocks and powerful spray create a dramatic setting, while the lighthouse itself stands as a testament to the skill of its builders. The waves break against the rocks with such force that they form white pillars and rainbows in sunny weather. The light shone without a break from 1844 until a fire in 1954 closed it for five years. Automation came in 1994, but the tower remains a lonely sentinel in the Atlantic.