Foghorn, Eilean Glas Lighthouse, Scalpay is a Grade A listed building in the Na h-Eileanan Siar local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 30 March 1994.
Foghorn, Eilean Glas Lighthouse, Scalpay
- WRENN ID
- secret-quoin-myrtle
- Grade
- A
- Local Planning Authority
- Na h-Eileanan Siar
- Constituency
- Na h-Eileanan an Iar MP: Torcuil Crichton (Lab)
- Country
- Scotland
- Date first listed
- 30 March 1994
- OS grid reference
- NG 247 946
- Coordinates
- 57.85668, -6.64197
- Source
- Historic Environment Scotland listing
Description
Eilean Glas Lighthouse on Scalpay features two circular lighthouse towers, with the main tower designed by Robert Stevenson around 1825, replacing the original tower built in 1789. The adjoining 1789 house was converted into a store, likely around the same time as the main tower's construction. The site is enclosed by a high wall and includes two parallel detached ranges of single-storey keeper's cottages to the north, probably designed by Alan Stevenson around 1845. There is also a jetty to the northwest, outbuildings, and a foghorn located to the south at Rudh' an Eorna. Most buildings are whitewashed.
The original lighthouse may have been lowered in height, and its lantern was replaced with a shallow-pitched roof around 1825. The main lighthouse is a five-stage tower with bands between the stages, painted red and white. It features small oculi in the narrow top band beneath a cantilevered platform with lattice guard rails, and the lantern has diamond glazing topped with a domed cap.
The store was originally two storeys but was converted, likely by Alan Stevenson in 1845, into single-storey keeper's cottages. It is built of rubble with long and short dressings around the doors and windows, featuring a simple parapet and flat roof, along with tall stacks.
The keeper's cottages to the northeast now consist of two cottages (originally three) designed in a Graeco-Egyptian style. They are constructed from squared whin rubble with granite dressings, showcasing bold ramped doorpieces with cavetto cornices and stepped blocking courses. The outer bays have similar detailing but include windows, with one later door. The cottages have sash and case windows with an 8-pane glazing pattern, a main cornice, and a blocking course. The tall battered stacks have splayed cornices, with four central stacks grouped together and the outer two paired. The range to the northwest features eight bays, including the principal house and an old engine room.
Local climate
Foghorn, Eilean Glas Lighthouse, Scalpay sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,300 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 95% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 97% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 21 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 78% of listed buildings. Of these, 13 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.2°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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