Ruadh Sgeir

Chance Brothers Lighthouse Chance Brothers Lighthouse
  • Date of lens manufacture

    1905

  • Date of lighthouse construction

    1906 (rebuilt 1983)

  • Country

    United Kingdom

  • Commissioning body

    Northern Lighthouse Board

  • Order of lens

    4th order

  • Fixed or revolving lens

    Fixed

  • Active/Inactive

    Active

  • Describe the character of light

    FL W(1) 6s 15 m 9 Nm

  • Describe the lighthouses daymarks

    White GRP tower with conical top.

  • Which aspects of the lighthouse (other than the lens) were manufactured by Chance brothers

    None known

  • Describe the history of the lighthouse

    In 1906 a minor light was built on Ruadh Sgeir by David A and Charles Stevenson. The introduction of this un-manned beacon light was announced by the Northern Lighthouse Board in a Notice To Mariners (Lloyds List 13 November 1906).

    In 1983 the original Ruadh Sgeir light was replaced by the current GRP example, originally fuelled by acetylene gas but converted in 2002 to solar-powered electricity. Ruadh Sgeir lighthouse occupies roughly the same location as the 1906 cast iron beacon.

    NB: It is assumed that the chance lens was replaced when the lighthouse was rebuilt in 1983 BUT no references can be found to state if this happened OR if the existing light was reused in the new tower. Further work is required to find out exactly what happened.

    It is one of the first low maintenance, glass reinforced plastic (GRP) towers built in Scotland. There are currently 13 of these GRP towers in the estate of the Northern Lighthouse Board. Only a small number were built because as the process of solarisation developed in the mid to late 1980s the solar-powered, lattice aluminium towers (SPLAT) became the more economically viable option for replacing the remaining gas-powered minor lights in Scotland. The last GRP tower was erected in 2010 at Crammag Head, and all 13 examples have been converted to solar power in place of the original gas-powered apparatus.

    Grade C listed building https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/200407397-ruadh-sgeir-lighthouse-jura

  • Current management body/ ports authority

    Northern Lighthouse Board

  • Historical preservation societies/manager/operator

    None Known

  • Is the site vulnerable to coastal erosion?
    nu
  • Have you experienced any affects of climate change on the lighthouse?
    ---
  • Observations on the condition of the lighthouse?

    Active and maintained.

  • Is the site open/closed to the public

    Closed

  • Is the tower open/closed to the public

    Closed

  • Latitude and Longitude
    ---
  • On-site bookable accommodation available
    ---
  • Associated web addresses
  • Other details

    ARLHS SCO-188; Admiralty A4226; NGA 4168.

  • Which resources did you use to research this lighthouses?
    ---
Inactive Chance Lens Inactive Chance Lens
  • When was the lens deactivated?

    1983 (assumed this occurred when the existing tower was demolished and a new GRP tower was erected).

added on 28 iunie 2022
Made In Smethwick: Lighthouses Around the World

In the 1800s, Chance Brothers & Co glassworks in Smethwick began making the hi-tech lenses that lighthouses use to warn ships of dangerous locations. By 1951, over 2,500 lighthouses around the world were fitted with a Chance lens.

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