Stoer Head Lighthouse
Stoer Head Lighthouse was built on Stoer Head by brothers David and Thomas Stevenson in 1870 after being identified as one of forty-five sites in Scotland where a lighthouse was necessary to protect shipping. The lighthouse is high, making it squat in appearance, but the height of the cliffs on which it sits means it can be seen at a distance of out at sea. The beacon flashes white every fifteen seconds.
Location
The lighthouse is at grid reference NC003330 at the end of a 5 km long track which branches off the B869 Lochinver to Unapool road. Further North up the coast are the Old Man of Stoer and the Point of Stoer, which can easily be reached from the lighthouse on foot.Around 10,000 visitors visit the lighthouse each year, necessitating the construction of a public toilet in 2013. The two keepers cottages have are now holiday homes.
Construction
Sea transport in the 1870s being the only feasible option for this remote site, the stone and other materials for the lighthouse were landed on a jetty built for the purpose about a mile to the south east of the lighthouse. No doubt, supplies for the lighthouse were similarly transported until roads became passable in the 20th century. The jetty is now in disrepair.Close to the jetty is the Stoer Lighthouse Stores bothy which was used by the men building the lighthouse. In the bothy there is a mural depicting the east elevation of the Stoer lighthouse: the mural probably dates from the 1800s, certainly predating the sale of the bothy in the 1960s. The neighbouring bothy is known as the Salmon Bothy and was used to store salmon.