Butt of Lewis Lighthouse (Rubha Robhanais)

1905

1862

United Kingdom

Northern Lighthouse Board

1st order

Revolving

Active

Flashing White every 5 Seconds

Red Brick tower 37 metres high. There are 168 steps to the top of the tower.

The Butt of Lewis Lighthouse is situated on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. The Lighthouse was designed and built by David and Thomas Stevenson, prolific engineers to the Northern Lighthouse Board. In June 1859, the quotation submitted by John Barr & Co of Ardrossan, amounting to £4,900, was accepted, but it was quite late into the year before Barr's could get their plant forwarded to the island. The vessel containing part of the contractor's property was wrecked while attempting to land its cargo and this resulted in the masonry works being postponed until the Spring of 1860.

The lighthouse was first lit in 1862, following difficult and lengthy negotiations between the Lighthouse Board and staff at the Board of Trade over whether the light should be fixed or flashing. While the Stevensons and the Commissioners favoured a flashing light, they were over-ruled by the Department of Trade, who insisted on "a fixed light of the first order." A flashing light was not installed until 1903. A plaque in the lightroom indicates that the present equipment was installed in 1905, when the characteristics of the light was one flash every twenty seconds. In 1869, paraffin is known to have replaced the vegetable or fish oil hitherto used as the light source, and indeed continued in use until 1976, when it was replaced by electricity.

The Lighthouse was manned by three Keepers who lived at the station with their families. The station was the radio link for the Keepers on the isolated Flannan Islands in the early 1930’s, and continued to function as this until 1971, when the Flannans was demanned, and the light made automatic.

The fog signal was discontinued on 31 March 1995 and the light was automated on 30 March 1998. For the Butt this ended 136 years of continuous residence by successive generations of light-keepers and their families. Today’s optic system is a Bi Form set up, consisting of a pair of 2 Tier high-powered LED marine lanterns flashing in synchronisation, giving reliability and efficiency.

From the mid-1990s to March 2022, the Butt of Lewis was one of the General Lighthouse Authorities transmitting stations for Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS). Today, the site is the radio control station for the North Minch area. The light is remotely monitored from theNorthern Lighthouse Board headquarters in Edinburgh.

The lighthouse tower, which is 37 m (121 ft) tall and a Category A Listed Building, was not just a source of reassurance for passing ships but also latterly acted as a highly sophisticated data-gathering centre. Up until automation, the keepers recorded detailed weather data every hour for onward transmission to the Meteorological Office.

Northern Lighthouse Board

Northern Lighthouse Board

Open

Closed

Latitude 58°30.923'N Longitude 006°15.717'W

1. https://www.nlb.org.uk/lighthouses/butt-of-lewis/; https://web.archive.org/web/20110612001616/;
2. https://www.nationaltransporttrust.org.uk/heritage-sites/heritage-detail/butt-of-lewis-lighthouse;
3. http://www.virtualheb.co.uk/lighthouse-butt-of-lewis-isle-of-lewis-western-isles.html
4. https://www.ibiblio.org/lighthouse/heb.htm
5. https://www.nlb.org.uk/lighthouses/butt-of-lewis/

The station’s claim to fame, according to the Guinness Book of Records, is that it is the windiest spot in the UK.

ARLHS SCO-027; Admiralty A3968; NGA 3820. Up until the early 1960s, all supplies were delivered by sea because of the poor road system on the island. At the nearby Port Stoth, small cargo vessels would regularly berth, weather permitting, to discharge provisions for the lighthouse station. All that remains today of this docking area is some timber and metal steps, the concrete base on which the crane was mounted, and a red-brick building (in the same brick as the lighthouse) which was used as a store by the Board.