The Tarbat Ness Lighthouse is located at the North West tip of the Tarbat Ness peninsula near the

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from fish stocking, stocked bodies of water such as fish pond, ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. ...

village of

Portmahomack Portmahomack ( gd, Port Mo Chalmaig; 'Haven of My .e. 'Saint'Colmóc') is a small fishing village in Easter Ross, Scotland. It is situated in the Tarbat Peninsula in the parish of Tarbat. Tarbat Ness Lighthouse is about from the village at ...

on the east coast of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. It was built in 1830 by

Robert Stevenson Robert Stevenson may refer to: * Robert Stevenson (actor and politician) (1915–1975), American actor and politician * Robert Stevenson (civil engineer) (1772–1850), Scottish lighthouse engineer * Robert Stevenson (director) (1905–1986), Engli ...

and has an elevation of and 203 steps to the top of the tower.

History

At the Battle of Tarbat Ness in the 11th century,

Thorfinn the Mighty Thorfinn Sigurdsson (1009?– 1065), also known as Thorfinn the Mighty (Old Norse: ''Þorfinnr inn riki''), was an 11th-century Jarl of Orkney. He was the youngest of five sons of Jarl Sigurd Hlodvirsson and the only one resulting from Sigur ...

defeated "

Karl Hundason Karl Hundason, also Karl Hundisson, is a personage in the '' Orkneyinga Saga''. The saga recounts a war between Thorfinn Sigurdsson, Earl of Orkney, and Karl, whom it calls king of Scots. The question of his identity and historicity has been deba ...

", possibly a Viking name for

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

. Further down the peninsula at

, in the 1480s the

Clan Ross Clan Ross ( gd, Clann Anndrais ) is a Highland Scottish clan. The original chiefs of the clan were the original Earl of Ross, Earls of Ross. History Origins The first recorded chief of the Clan Ross was Fearchar, Earl of Ross, "Fearcher Mac ...

slaughtered a raiding party from the

Clan Mackay Clan Mackay ( ; gd, Clann Mhic Aoidh ) is an ancient and once-powerful Scottish Highlands, Highland Scottish clan from the far North of the Scottish Highlands, but with roots in the old Mormaer of Moray, Kingdom of Moray. They supported Robert I ...

by locking them in the Tarbat Old Church and setting fire to it. This event is known as the

Battle of Tarbat The Battle of Tarbat was a Scottish clan battle fought in the 1480s on the Tarbat peninsula, in Easter Ross. The Clan Ross cornered a raiding party of Clan Mackay near the village of Portmahomack and put many of them to the sword. The surviv ...

Lighthouse

A storm in the

Moray Firth The Moray Firth (; Scottish Gaelic: ''An Cuan Moireach'', ''Linne Mhoireibh'' or ''Caolas Mhoireibh'') is a roughly triangular inlet (or firth) of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of north of Scotl ...

in November 1826 saw the loss of 16 vessels and brought many applications for lighthouses to be constructed at Tarbat Ness and at Covesea Skerries. Tarbat Ness Lighthouse was engineered by Robert Stevenson for the

Northern Lighthouse Board 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. History The NLB was formed by Act of P ...

and the light was first exhibited on 26 January 1830. James Smith of Inverness was the contractor responsible for the building of the lighthouse which cost £9,361. The lighthouse tower is the third tallest in Scotland behind

North Ronaldsay North Ronaldsay (, also , sco, North Ronalshee) is the northernmost island in the Orkney archipelago of Scotland. With an area of , it is the fourteenth-largest.Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 334 It is mentioned in the '' Orkneyinga saga''; in modern ...

and Skerryvore and is notable for having two distinguishing broad red bands. Bella Bathurst's 1999 'The Lighthouse Stevensons' refers to a rescue made by the principal keeper William Davidson of 4 of the 5 crew members of a Norwegian schooner. No date given for this. She mentions this in the context that Robert Stevenson required keepers to stay with the light and not risk rescuing shipwrecked people. It seems that even with the light, ships could still be driven ashore. She accessed the full entries of logs and diaries available at the Northern Lights Board. Earthquake shocks were sometimes reported and Tarbat Ness once shook so that the shades and lamp glasses rattled. Probably the lighthouse was built on the foundations of a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

fortification,
Roman foundations of the lighthouse that were later identified in the Middle Ages as a "Roman landmark" near Port a' Chait (now called "Port a Chaistell").

References

External links

Northern Lighthouse Board

Northern Lighthouse Board history of Tarbat Ness

CANMORE: Port a chaistell
Tarbat ness lighthouse OS map 25inch Rosshire XXX

Tarbat ness lighthouse OS map 25inch Rosshire XXX

{{Authority control Lighthouses completed in 1830 Category A listed lighthouses Category A listed buildings in Highland (council area) Lighthouses in Scotland Ross and Cromarty Buildings and structures in Highland (council area) 1830 establishments in Scotland Works of Robert Stevenson (civil engineer)

History

Lighthouse

See also

References

External links