Account of the Skerryvore lighthouse : $b with notes on the illumination of lighthousesStevenson, Alan
History
Account of the Skerryvore lighthouse : $b with notes on the illumination of lighthouses
Stevenson, Alan
Skerryvore Lighthouse (Hebrides, Scotland)
to be imported, and tools and implements of every kind were to be made.
[5] A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland, &c., by M.
Martin, Gent. London, 1703. _Vide_ 2d Edition of 1716, p. 267.
* * * * *
~Pier and workyard at Hynish Tyree.~
In the course of the survey, much attention had been bestowed upon
the selection of a convenient place for a workyard in Tyree for the
preparation of materials, and in examining its rugged shores in quest
of the best site for a Harbour, for the shipment of the building
materials for the Rock, and for the all-important purpose of enabling
the future attending vessel to lie in safety within sight of signals
from the Rock, when the Light should come to be exhibited to the
public. The point chosen for this establishment was Hynish, which,
though twelve miles distant, is, nevertheless, the nearest creek to the
Skerryvore Rock, and which, however exposed it may be, if compared
with creeks elsewhere dignified with the name of Harbour, certainly
affords as good prospect of shelter as any other part of the Island of
Tyree, and is, in this respect, greatly to be preferred to any other
place within sight of the Rock. A deputation of the Commissioners
visited the Skerryvore in the month of July 1836, and concurred with
the Engineer in regard to his choice of Hynish as a site for the
Harbour and establishment.
* * * * *
~Quarries at Hynish.~
Another most important point of inquiry was regarding the materials
for building the Lighthouse; and on this subject the suggestions in a
Report by the Engineer, of the 31st December 1835, were followed, which
proposed the opening of quarries among the gneiss rocks around Hynish.
Much facility was afforded by the liberality of the late Duke of
Argyll, the proprietor of Tyree, who granted to the Commissioners free
permission “to quarry materials for the purpose of the Lighthouse, on
any part of the Argyll estates.” This freedom was generously continued
by the present Duke, who has all along taken a lively interest in
the success of the works. In terms, therefore, of the Engineer’s
recommendations contained in the above noticed Report, Mr James Scott
and fourteen quarriers were employed, during the summers of 1836 and
1837, in opening quarries, with very promising appearances of final
success, among the gneiss rocks near Hynish Point. In the summer of
1837, Mr Scott and his party turned out about 3800 cubic feet of rock,
capable of being applied to the purposes of squared masonry, and a very
large quantity of stones fit for rubble work. This produce, although
small, if contrasted with that of established quarries, is by no means
despicable, when the _force_ employed and all the disadvantages of the
situation are considered; and if the nature of the material, which is
full of rents and fissures (technically called _dries_ and _cutters_),
the frequent deceptions attending the opening of new quarries, the
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