Corsewall Lighthouse

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Corsewall Lighthouse

Wigtownshire


Corsewall Lighthouse and hotel
Location
Grid reference: NW98077262
Location: 55°0’25"N, 5°9’33"W
Characteristics
Tower marking: White
History
Built 1815-1817
First lit: 1817
Information
Owned by: Northern Lighthouse Board

Corsewall Lighthouse is a lighthouse at Corsewall Point, Kirkcolm near Stranraer in Wigtownshire. First lit in 1817, it overlooks the North Channel of the Irish Sea.

The name ‘Corsewall’ said to mean ‘place or well of the Cross’.

History

In 1814, a Mr Kirkman Finley applied to the Trade of Clyde for a lighthouse on Corsewall Point. The Northern Lighthouse Board investigated the site and in 1815 decided that a lighthouse should be built at the entrance of Loch Ryan, in Wigtownshire. When the engineer and lighthouse designer Robert Stevenson undertook an inspection voyage in December 1815, he observed that the lighthouse tower, at 30 feet, and house were under construction.

Corsewall Lighthouse was first lit in 1817. That same year, the Principal Keeper was reported for incompetence after falling asleep while on duty. For a period of time the revolving apparatus of the light had stopped. The Keeper was suspended and demoted becoming an assistant at Bell Rock Lighthouse. He never again chiefly monitored a lighthouse.

In November 1970, Concorde reportedly flew over the lighthouse on a trial flight and shattered panes of glass on the lighthouse. Later flights did not affect it.

In 1994, the light was automated and monitored from the Northern Lighthouse Board in Edinburgh. The lighthouse keepers accommodation has been converted into the Corsewall Lighthouse Hotel.[1][2][3]

The message in the bottle
The message in the bottle

In 1892, three engineers who were installing a new light hid a message in a bottle at the lighthouse. The bottle and message were discovered in 2024 while the lighthouse was undergoing refurbishment.[4]

("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Corsewall Lighthouse)

References

  1. Corsewall Lighthouse Hotel, Retrieved on 24 June 2008
  2. Rowlett, Russ: Lighthouses of Southwestern Scotland – The Lighthouse Directory (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
  3. Corsewall Northern Lighthouse Board. Retrieved 10 May 2016
  4. "Hidden message in a bottle found in lighthouse wall after 132 years". BBC. 9 November 2024. 
Lighthouses of the Northern Lighthouse Board
Flag of the Commissioners
Flag of the Commissioners

The Hebrides:   Barra HeadButt of LewisDubh ArtachEilean GlasFlannan IslandsHaskeirHyskeirLismoreMonachNeist PointOrnsayRinns of IslayRonaRuvaalScarinishSkerryvoreTiumpan HeadUshenishMinor lights

Orkney:   AuskerryBrough of BirsayCantick HeadCopinsayHoy Sound (High)Hoy Sound (Low)North RonaldsayNoup HeadPentland SkerriesStart PointTor NessMinor lights

Shetland:   BressayEshanessFair Isle NorthFair Isle SouthFirths VoeFoulaHoo StackMuckle FluggaOut SkerriesPoint of FethalandSumburgh HeadVe SkerriesMinor lights

Isle of Man:   Chicken RockDouglas HeadLangnessMaughold HeadPoint of AyreThousla Rock

Mainland and smaller island groups::   Ailsa CraigArdnamurchanBass RockBell RockBuchan NessCape WrathChanonryCorsewallCovesea SkerriesCrammag HeadDavaarDuncansby HeadDunnet HeadFidraFife NessGirdle NessHoly Island (Outer)InchkeithIsle of MayKinnaird HeadMull of GallowayMull of KintyreNorth RonaNoss HeadPladdaRattray HeadRubh ReSt Abbs HeadSandaScurdie NessStoer HeadStrathy PointStromaSule SkerryTarbat NessTurnberry