Monument record MHG33602 - Rubha Reidh Lighthouse

Rubha Reidh Lighthouse

Date of Listing 01.07.04.

Lighthouse complex; completed 1912, engineer David A Stevenson, consisting of white tower, 25 metres high; 2- storey, 2-bay accommodation block with single storey, single bay wings (all with flat roofs), one with modem glazed lean-to extension; compound enclosed by boundary wall. All whitewashed with yellow painted detailing to long and short quoins, window and door surrounds, base course and cornice etc. Part of the quarter deck (attached to tower), including the foghorn house was removed in 1986.

A concrete jetty lies approximately 400 metres north east of the lighthouse and is connected to the lighthouse by a single trackway. A tramway ran along the incline to the jetty from the haUlage engine house, the tramway was removed sometime after 1968. The lighthouse overlooks the Minch and the entrance to Loch Ewe.

Information from the NLB: A lighthouse was first proposed for Rubh'Re Point by David Stevenson in 1853. 1908, £14, 900 was sanctioned by the Board of Trade and the lighthouse was completed in 1912.

Rubha Reidh is an example of the final evolution of the classic Stevenson's on-shore manned lighthouse facility. It is possibly the last circular cross-section major lighthouse tower built by a Stevenson in mainland Scotland and is one of the last few classic lighthouse compounds built before World War I. Major lights such as Esha Ness and Duncansby Head, that were built after World War I, were of a significantly different design.

NRMS archive includes plans signed by D A Stevenson, dated 1908 and 1909 showing the proposed site of the lighthouse with access to the jetty, designs for the gatepiers and gates to the compound, plans and elevations for various parts of the compound including the horn house and the lantern dome, and also details for the stairs by Walter Macfarlane & Co, Saracen Foundry, Glasgow and a 1980 photographic record of the jetty and tramway.

The lighthouse was automated in 1986 and continues in operation (2004). The lens and lighting equipment, foghorn and clockwork mechanism are housed in the Gairloch Heritage Museum. The accommodation and non-operational areas of the site were sold off in 1990 and remain in private ownership (2004). Rubha Reid is also spelt Rudha Reigh, Ru Rea, Rua Reidh and Rubh'Re.

Munro R, Scottish Lighthouses (1979); National Monuments Record of Scotland (NMRS) Archive; additional information courtesy of the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) ( 2004).