Bell Rock Lighthouse
Bell Rock Lighthouse is the world's oldest surviving sea-washed lighthouse and was built on Bell Rock (also known as Inchcape Rock) in the North Sea, 12 miles (18 km) off the coast of Angus, Scotland, east of the Firth of Tay. The rock was the scene of many shipwrecks as it lies just below the surface of the sea for all but a few hours at low tide.
According to legend, the rock is called Bell Rock because of 14th century attempt by the abbot from Arbroath to install a warning bell on it. The bell lasted only one year until it was removed by a Dutch pirate. This story is immortalised in The Inchcape Rock, a famous poem by 19th century poet Robert Southey.
By the turn of the 18th century, it was estimated that the rocks were responsible for the wrecking of up to six ships every winter 1. In one storm alone, 70 ships were lost off the east coast of Scotland. Stevenson had earlier proposed in 1799 the construction of a lighthouse on Bell Rock, but cost concerns and the relative radicality of Stevenson's proposal caused the proposal to be shelved. However, the loss of the warship HMS York and all on board in 1804 resulted in a furore in Parliament which eventually led to legislation being passed in 1806 enabling the construction of the lighthouse.
The lighthouse was built by a Scottish engineer, Robert Stevenson, between 1807 and 1810. The lamp was first lit on 1st February, 1811. The design has some similarities to the earlier Eddystone Lighthouse designed by John Smeaton which was also built on an offshore reef using interlocking stones, but also newer features, such as rotating lights, with alternating red and white lights. Standing at 35 m high, the light is visible from 35 statute miles (55 km) inland. The working of the lighthouse has been automated since 1998.
Later, the Chief Engineer on the project John Rennie had disputed the amount of credit that Stevenson had in the part of the design -- Rennie had claimed that Stevenson's curve on the base of the lighthouse was inappropriate, though Stevenson had created the earlier designs based on the Eddystone.
The lighthouse operated in tandem with a shore station, the Bell Rock Signal Tower, built in 1813 at the mouth of Arbroath harbour. Today this building houses the Signal Tower Museum, a visitor centre detailing the history of the lighthouse.
The challenges faced in the building of the lighthouse have led to it being described as one of the Seven Wonders of the Industrial World.
Construction History
1807
Stevenson hired 60 men and they initially set sail on 17 August 1807, to be away for two months. For 20 hours of each day when the rock was covered by water the men lived on a ship moored a mile off the rock. At high tide, the rock was covered by 12 feet of water. The initial work was to build a beacon house on tall wooden struts, so the men would have a place to stay on the island, instead of the time-consuming row to and from the ship each day. The foundations and beacon legs were raised during the first season.
During the winter, stonemasons cut rocks for the lighthouse out of Aberdeen granite.
1808
During the Spring of 1808, work resumed. The beacon house barracks was completed and the first three courses of stone were laid. In the whole of the second season, there were only 80 hours of building work on the rock. During this time, before the barracks were completed, a young worker was knocked unconscious by a buoy ring and drowned. Stevenson offered the position to Alexander Scott, the younger brother of the drowned worker, who accepted.
1809
Stevenson was frustrated by a visit by Rennie, who he saw as interfering with his work, and as a strategy to ward off further visits wrote Rennie a total of 82 letters, asking detailed questions about a large range of construction issues. Rennie replied in detail to every letter, but Stevenson largely ignored the replies. During this time a worker, Wishart, had his legs crushed in an accident, preventing him from working further on the project. He asked Stevenson if he could be appointed lighthouse keeper and this was ultimately arranged. Work stopped on 22 August 1809 with a large part of the tower completed.
1810
In January, Stevenson's twins died of Whooping Cough and two weeks later, his youngest daughter Janet also died of this disease. Rennie wrote Stevenson a consoling letter.
During this final period of construction, a worker, Charles Henderson, was lost during a storm, his body never found. Work was finally completed, with a total of about 2500 granite stones used during the construction.