Light
Established1846
Engineer
Alan Stevenson
Position
Latitude 57° 43.5’N
Longitude 3° 20.2’W
Character
Flashing White/Red every 20 Secs
Elevation
49 metres
Nominal Range
White 24 miles
Red 20 miles
Structure
White tower 36 metres high.
Many applications were made for lights to be established at Covesea Skerries and Tarbet Ness following the loss of 16 vessels during a storm in the Moray Firth in November 1826.
Initially the Commissioners and Trinity House agreed that it was unnecessary but letters and petitions continued; the engineer and a committee of the Board visited the coast, and eventually the Elder Brethren were asked to look for the best site. They recommended a lighthouse on Craighead with a beacon on Halliman's Scars, which the Commissioners agreed to. A pyramid of iron pillars went up in 1845, and in 1846 a mainland light was shown from the Covesea Skerries Lighthouse.
The high walls that surrounded the lighthouse building for shelter caused 'strong whirlwinds' in the courtyard and interfered with the lightkeepers lookout, on 1907 a start was made to lower these.
The lighthouse
was automated in 1984 and is now remotely monitored from the Northern
Lighthouse Board's offices in Edinburgh. The original lens can be seen
in Lossiemouth Fisheries and Community Museum.
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History