Killantringan Lighthouse
aka Black Head
Lighthouse
Wigtownshire
|
Location Guide |
 Photo by:
Gordon Brown
The 1900's opened with two new lights on the West Coast of Scotland -
Tiumpan Head
Lighthouse,
near Stornoway and
this one on Black Head, on the western side of the Rhins of Galloway about 1.5
miles north of Portpatrick in Wigtownshire. The go ahead to build a lighthouse at Blackhead was
granted in 1897 and it became operational in 1900.
It was not to be long before this light proved its worth. On 26 November
1900, the Principal Lightkeeper noticed a fishing boat in distress and fired a
rocket to summon the lifeboat from Portpatrick, which took the crew off and
towed the boat into the harbour. There have been many incidents since then, the
most recent being in 1982 when a container ship ran aground.
It was automated in 1988 but in 2005 a review took place of all navigational aids
around the coast of the British Isles, both in isolation and their worth
together. As a result of this it was decided that Killantringan was no longer
required, so it's light was switched off on 11 July 2007 and since has been
inactive.
The keeper's house is now a private residence
and is holiday accommodation, but the lighthouse can be seen
from nearby.
Photo by Ann
Cook
Nearby lighthouses are
Corsewall
Lighthouse
at Kirkcolm, just 15 miles away and the
Mull of Galloway
Lighthouse,
25 miles away.
Lighthouse information Grid
|
Name: |
Killantringan Lighthouse, Wigtownshire |
|
Current status: |
Discontinued 2007 |
|
Geographic Position: |
54° 51.7'N 05° 08.7'W |
|
Grid Reference: |
NW981564 |
|
Ceremonial County: |
Wigtownshire
 |
|
Appearance: |
White tower with 63 steps to top of tower, with lantern and gallery, attached to a 1 storey keeper's house. Lighthouse
painted white with buff trim, lantern painted black. |
|
Map
Link: |
Multimap
|
|
Aerial photo: |
Marinas.com
|
|
Other photos: |
photo
|
|
Originally built: |
1900 |
|
Current lighthouse built: |
|
|
Height of Tower: |
22 metres |
|
Height of light above mean sea level: |
49 metres |
|
Character of light: |
Was Flashing (2) White every 15 secs |
|
Character of fog signal: |
|
|
Range of light: |
25 nautical miles |
|
Owned / run by: |
Northern
Lighthouse Board
|
|
Getting there: |
Off the B738 highway, there is
also a walking trail, the first section of the
Southern Upland Way,
from Portpatrick which goes past it. |
|
Access: |
Site and tower closed, now
privately owned, but the lighthouse can be seen from nearby. There is
parking nearby for access to Killantringan Bay and it will be seen from here.
A footpath also walks by it. |
|
Website: |
NLB |
|
Other Useful Websites: |
Killantringan Self Catering Accommodation
|
| Routes: |
|
|
Other Relevant pages: |
For more articles, lists and other information
see the
Lighthouses Section
Lighthouse Map of Scotland
Featured List of lighthouses - Scotland
List of minor lighthouses and lights - Scotland
Tiumpan Head
Lighthouse
Corsewall
Lighthouse
Mull of Galloway
Lighthouse
|
|
Notes: |
|
|
|
Please let us know any other information that we
can add to the Grid or page and any errors that you discover. Before making a long trip to any location it is always
wise to double check the current information, websites like magazines may be
correct at the time the information is written, but things change and it is of
course impossible to double check all entries on a regular basis. If you have
any good photographs that you feel would improve the illustration of this page
then please let us have copies. In referring to this page it is helpful if you
quote both the Page Ref and Topic or Section references from the Grid below. To print the
planning grid select it then right click and print the selected area.
Please submit information on locations you discover so
that this system continues to grow.
|
