The coastline out to the Point of Stoer at Stoer Head Lighthouse, Sutherland. SCO 8393
It wasn’t until 1853 that regular Wreck Returns were kept and figures for 1859-66 showed that an average of 24 vessels a year were stranded on sands and rocks around the Scottish coast. Alan and Thomas Stevenson had now taken over as engineers for the Northern Lighthouse Board and they prepared a list of 45 possible sites thought to be desirable to complete a system of lights for the coasts of Scotland, Stoer Head was included in this list. But it was not until 1870 that the light marking the headland of the Point of Stoer was finally built. Although the lighthouse is relatively short (only 14 metres high) its elevation above sea level is 54 metres. A Principal Lightkeeper and an Assistant and their families lived at Stoer Head until the light became automated in 1978. They were quite self sufficient and nearby you can see the remains of the former byre, stable, cow shed, pig house and cart shed all built for life at the lighthouse station. The Lightkeepers’ children were educated at Stoer Public School, however there were no senior schools in the county of Sutherland so the children had to continue their education away from the lighthouse at boarding school. Lightkeeping was a remote, lonely and hard existence. One task overruled everything: the light must burn at maximum intensity throughout the hours of darkness.
Size: 6063px × 4035px
Location: Stoer Head Lighthouse, Clashmore. Raffin. Sutherland, Highland Region. Scotland.
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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