Mull of Kintyre - Lighthouse

Lighthouse

Mull of Kintyre Lighthouse
Mull of Kintyre Lighthouse
Location tip of Kintyre peninsula
Coordinates 55°18.626′N 5°48.208′W / 55.310433°N 5.803467°W / 55.310433; -5.803467
Year first constructed 1788
Automated 1996
Construction White tower
Height 12 metres (39 ft)
Focal height 91 metres (299 ft)
Range 24 nautical miles
Characteristic Gp Fl.(2) W 20sec

The Mull of Kintyre Lighthouse was the second lighthouse commissioned in Scotland by the Commissioners of the Northern Lights. It was designed and built by Thomas Smith and completed in 1788. Smith had previously designed the light at Kinnaird Head, but Mull of Kintyre was a far more substantial project, in a far more remote location.

The lighthouse was rebuilt in the 1820s. The light was fixed until 1906, when it was converted to flashing, and its power increased from 8,000 to 281,000 candela. It was converted to electrical power in 1976, automated in 1996 and is now monitored from Edinburgh.

The former keeper's cottages are now run as holiday cottages by the National Trust for Scotland.

Read more about this topic:  Mull Of Kintyre

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