Tarbat Ness Lighthouse
| Tarbat Ness Lighthouse | |
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| Location: | Tarbat Ness Nr Portmahomack, Highland, Scotland |
| Coordinates | 57°51.8’N 03°46.6’W |
| Year first lit: | 1830 |
| Automated: | 1985 |
| Construction: | Brick |
| Tower shape: | Conical tower |
| Markings/Pattern: | White with 2 red bands |
| Height: | 41 m |
| Focal Height: | 53 m |
| Range: | 44 Km (white), 37 Km (red) |
| Characteristic: | Fl. (4) white every 30 secs |
The Tarbat Ness Lighthouse is located at the North West tip of the Tarbat Ness peninsula near the fishing village of Portmahomack on the east coast of Scotland. It was built in 1830 by Robert Stevenson and has an elevation of 53 metres and 203 steps to the top of the tower.
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[edit] History of Tarbat Ness
At the Battle of Tarbat Ness in the 11th century, Thorfinn the Mighty defeated "Karl Hundason",[1] possibly a Viking name for Macbeth.
Further down the peninsula at Portmahomack, in the 1480s the Clan Ross slaughtered a raiding party from the Clan Mackay by locking them in the Tarbat Old Church and setting fire to it. This event is known as the Battle of Tarbat.
[edit] Lighthouse
A storm in the Moray Firth in November 1826 saw the loss of 16 vessels and brought many applications for lighthouses to be constructed at Tarbat Ness and at Covesea Skerries.
Tarbat Ness Lighthouse was engineered by Robert Stevenson for the Northern Lighthouse Board and the light was first exhibited on 26 January 1830. James Smith of Inverness was the contractor responsible for the building of the lighthouse which cost £9,361. The lighthouse tower is the third tallest in Scotland behind North Ronaldsay and Skerryvore and is notable for having two distinguishing broad red bands.
Earthquake shocks were sometimes reported and Tarbat Ness once shook so that the shades and lamp glasses rattled.
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Roberts, John Lenox (1997), Lost Kingdoms: Celtic Scotland and the Middle Ages, Edinburgh University Press, p. 22, ISBN 9780748609109
