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Collection NLC53 - Flannan Isles lighthouse
Reports

Identity area

Reference code

GB 234 NLC53

Title

Flannan Isles lighthouse

Date(s)

  • 1899-1971 (Creation)

Level of description

Collection

Extent and medium

1 volume

Context area

Name of creator

Commissioners for Northern Lighthouses (1786-1994)

Administrative history

The Erection of Lighthouses Act 1786 (26 Geo. III, c.101) founded the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses (numbering 19), who had the power to borrow money, purchase land, levy dues from ship owners, and to construct lighthouses. The first lighthouse constructed by the NLC was Kinnaird Head, near Fraserburgh, opened in 1787. The jurisdiction of the Commissioners was extended by statute to include the Isle of Man (under the Isle of Man and Calf of Man Lighthouses Act 1815: 55 Geo. III, ch.lxvii) and lighthouses established by burghs and other local authorities under the Lighthouses Act 1836 (6 & 7 Will. IV, c.79), which also made plans for new lighthouses to be built by the Commissioners subject to approval of Trinity House. The powers of Trinity House were strengthened and the funding of lighthouses consolidated into the Mercantile Marine Fund under the Merchant Shipping Law Amendment Act 1853 (16 & 17 Vict., c.131). The Merchant Shipping Act 1894 (57 & 58 Vict., c.60) confirmed the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses as the authority for lighthouses in Scotland and the adjacent seas and islands, and the Isle of Man. The Merchant Shipping Act 1979 freed the Commissioners from the supervision of Trinity House.

The Northern Lighthouse Board, together with Trinity House (England, Wales and the Channel Isles) and the Commissioners of Irish Lights (Eire and Northern Ireland) are the General Lighthouse Authorities for the United Kingdom and Ireland. Running costs are met from a 'General Lighthouse Fund', financed by the collection of Light Dues paid by commercial ships calling at British and Irish ports, and by fishing vessels over 10 metres in length. The fund, although administered by the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, is entirely self-financing, and receives no grant from the Exchequer. The powers and duties of the General Lighthouse Authorities are laid down in the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 (c.21). All the NLC's lighthouses have been automated for operational purposes since end March 1998.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

The Flannan Isles are situated c30 miles west of the mainland of the Isle of Lewis. The lighthouse is situated on the highest point of Eilean Mòr. It was designed by David Alan Stevenson and built between 1895 and 1899. It was first lit in 1899 and automated in 1971.
Visitor album 1899-1971

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Open

Conditions governing reproduction

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Paper records

Finding aids

Digital item level catalogue available through the National Records of Scotland http://www.nas.gov.uk/onlineCatalogue/ catalogue reference starting NLC53

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Dates of creation revision deletion

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