William Black Memorial Lighthouse

William Black Memorial Lighthouse

William Black Memorial Lighthouse was built in 1900–1901 by the Northern Lighthouse Board to a design by the Glasgow architect Sir William Leiper (1839–1916), in memory of the celebrated novelist William Black (1841–1898). This automatic, solar-powered light is located 1 kilometre to the south-south-east of Duart Point, a rocky promontory at the south-easternmost corner of the island of Mull. The lighthouse marks the entrance to the Sound of Mull, a sheltered seaway separating the island of Mull from the Morvern peninsula of the Scottish mainland.

The lighthouse stands approximately 14 metres above mean sea level. It is a small gothic tower measuring 9 metres in height. The tower is built of coursed and bull-faced grey granite stonework, with a rubble base course and ashlar parapet. The plan form is generally circular but with a slightly taller square tower to the east. A round stair tower on the building's western side has two slit windows and a candle-snuffer roof. At the top of the main lighthouse tower, the parapet is castellated, with a dentilled cornice. The light and associated equipment are mounted on top of the flat tower roof.

Access to the interior is through a door at ground level on the south-west side of the stair tower. The doorpiece comprises a moulded segmental-arched opening. Above the door is a metal plaque topped by a triangular pediment. The plaque bears an inscription reading: "To the dear memory of William Black, Novelist. Erected by his friends and admirers, in many lands, on a spot which he knew and loved."

Following William Black's death in 1898, a memorial fund was established with Lord Archibald Campbell as Treasurer. Subscribers came from Britain and the United States of America and included Lord Rosebery, the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland, and three members of parliament. In July 1899, the fund committee decided to support the building of a memorial lighthouse at Duart Point rather than contribute to a lifeboat. The Northern Lighthouse Board commissioners agreed that a lighthouse was required at the southern entrance to the Sound of Mull, where a large proportion of steamer traffic on the west coast of Scotland passed at that time. Two wrecks occurring during the winter of 1899–1900 would not have occurred had the lighthouse existed.

Construction by Messrs Macdougall and MacColl of Oban cost an estimated total of £1,563. The light first shone on 13 May 1901 and continues in operation. Solar panels mounted on the lighthouse tower are excluded from the listing.