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The Cantick Head Lighthouse is an active 19th century lighthouse on the Scottish island of
The need for the lighthouse was first raised by the Northern Lights Commissioners in 1854 and was quickly approved, but delays in agreeing the details for the light and that of the buildings meant that construction did not start until two years later in 1856. The design and construction was overseen by the notable lighthouse engineers
Northern Lighthouse Board
Cantick Head Lighthouse Cottages
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantick Head Lighthouse Lighthouses completed in 1858 Category B listed buildings in Orkney Category B listed lighthouses Lighthouses in Orkney Hoy
South Walls
South Walls ( sco, Sooth Waas), often referred to as Walls, is an inhabited island adjacent to Hoy in Orkney, Scotland. The name is a corruption of "Sooth Was", which means the "southern voes" – as with Kirkwall, it was assumed that it was a mi ...
in the Orkney Islands. It is located at the end of Cantick Head, a long peninsula on the south-eastern coast of South Walls that overlooks the Pentland Firth
The Pentland Firth ( gd, An Caol Arcach, meaning the Orcadian Strait) is a strait which separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland. Despite the name, it is not a firth.
Etymology
The name is presumed to be a corrup ...
and the Sound of Hoxa, which forms the southern entry to the natural harbour of Scapa Flow.
South Walls is joined to the larger island of Hoy
Hoy ( sco, Hoy; from Norse , meaning "high island") is an island in Orkney, Scotland, measuring – the second largest in the archipelago, after Mainland. A natural causeway, ''the Ayre'', links the island to the smaller South Walls; the tw ...
by a narrow causeway, allowing road access to the village of Longhope
Longhope is a village in west Gloucestershire, situated within the Forest of Dean, England, United Kingdom. Arthur Bullock, who was born in Longhope in 1899, described its location as follows:
* The parish occupies the most easterly valley in t ...
, Hackness
Hackness is a village and civil parish in the Scarborough district of the county of North Yorkshire, England. It lies within the North York Moors National Park. The parish population rose from 125 in the 2001 UK census to 221 in the 2011 UK c ...
and then the lighthouse further to the south-east.
History
The need for the lighthouse was first raised by the Northern Lights Commissioners in 1854 and was quickly approved, but delays in agreeing the details for the light and that of the buildings meant that construction did not start until two years later in 1856. The design and construction was overseen by the notable lighthouse engineers Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
and David Stevenson.
The light first entered service in 1858, and consists of a high cylinder-shaped tower, which is painted white. It supports a single gallery and a lantern with a black cupola.
Adjacent to the tower are a set of keeper's cottages and subsidiary buildings, bounded by a walled compound containing a sundial. A principal keeper's house was a later addition. In 1913, a foghorn was installed at the station, which continued in use until 1987. In 1991 the light was converted to automatic operation, and the keeper's houses were sold and converted to holiday accommodation. In 2017, the accommodation including the first assistant, second assistant and principal keeper's houses were offered for sale at a price of £300,000.
With a focal height of above sea level, the light can be seen for . Its light characteristic is made up of a flash of white light every twenty seconds.
The lighthouse is maintained by the Northern Lighthouse Board, and is registered under the international Admiralty number A3602 and has the NGA identifier of 114–3088.
Listed buildings
The entire station including the tower, keeper's cottages, outhouses and sundial are protected as a category B listed building.See also
*List of lighthouses in Scotland
This is a list of lighthouses in Scotland. The Northern Lighthouse Board, from which much of the information is derived, are responsible for most lighthouses in Scotland but have handed over responsibility in the major estuaries to the port aut ...
* List of Northern Lighthouse Board lighthouses
This is a list of the currently operational lighthouses of the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB). The list is divided by geographical location, and then by whether the lighthouses are classed by the NLB as a 'major lighthouse' or a 'minor light'. F ...
References
External links
Northern Lighthouse Board
Cantick Head Lighthouse Cottages
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantick Head Lighthouse Lighthouses completed in 1858 Category B listed buildings in Orkney Category B listed lighthouses Lighthouses in Orkney Hoy