- Covesea Skerries Lighthouse
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Covesea Skerries Lighthouse 
The lighthouse photographed in June 1983 Location Nr Lossiemouth, Moray, NE Scotland. Coordinates 57°43.4′N 03°20.3′W / 57.7233°N 3.3383°WCoordinates: 57°43.4′N 03°20.3′W / 57.7233°N 3.3383°W Year first constructed 1845—46 Year first lit 1846 Automated 1984 Construction Brick Tower shape Conical tower Markings / pattern White Height 36 m Focal height 49 m Range 44 Km (white),
37 Km (red)Characteristic Fl. white/red every 20 secs Covesea Skerries Lighthouse, belonging to the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB), is built on top of a small headland on the south coast of the Moray Firth at Covesea, near Lossiemouth, Moray, Scotland.
History
Following a storm in the Moray Firth in November 1826 when 16 vessels were sunk, applications were made for lighthouses at Tarbat Ness, on the opposite coast, and at Covesea Skerries. The Commissioners of Northern Light Houses (the precursor of the NLB) and Trinity House[1] felt that a lighthouse at Covesea was unnecessary but this was against public opinion. Many letters and petitions were delivered to them. Eventually, the engineer and a committee of the Board surveyed the coastline and the Elder Brethren[2] were asked to look for the best location. They recommended a lighthouse on the Craighead with a beacon on Halliman's Skerries, which the Commissioners agreed to. A grid iron tower was erected on the Halliman's Skerries in 1845, and in 1846, the Covesea Skerries Lighthouse was completed at a cost of £11,514.[3]
The surrounding walls, because of their height, caused vortices in the yard area in strong winds. This interfered with lightkeepers lookout so the walls were lowered in 1907.
In 1984, the lighthouse was automated being remotely monitored and controlled at the Northern Lighthouse Board's offices in Edinburgh, but originally, the lens was rotated by a clockwork mechanism with gradually descending weights providing the energy. The original lens is on display at the Lossiemouth Fisheries and Community Museum.
The lighthouse in 2011
Engineer
The lighthouse was designed and built by Alan Stevenson, a member of the Stevenson lighthouse engineering dynasty and uncle of the novelist Robert Louis Stevenson.
Footnotes
- ^ The Corporation of Trinity House had three functions:
1. General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar
2. Pilotage Authority for London and forty other districts (known as outports) including Southampton but excluding Liverpool, Bristol and several ports in the North-East of England
3. Charitable organisation for the relief of mariners and their dependants in distress - ^ The Corporation of Trinity House has had many other functions, largely carried out or supervised by the Board of 10 Elder Brethren. Elder Brethren are elected (for life) from the pool of around 300 Younger brethren who are primarily Merchant Navy captains (with a few Royal Navy officers)
- ^ £11514 in 1846 was equivalent to around £742,000 in 2005
Source for money calculations at - [1]
Categories:- Buildings and structures completed in 1846
- Category A listed buildings in Scotland
- Listed buildings in Moray
- Lighthouses in Scotland
- Listed lighthouses in Scotland
- ^ The Corporation of Trinity House had three functions:
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