Ushenish Lighthouse

Ushenish Lighthouse stands on the east coast of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides, on a remote headland looking out across the Little Minch towards Skye. It is still an active light, and it guides vessels passing along the eastern side of the Uists, where the deep water of the Minch carries fishing boats, ferries and cargo ships between the north and south of Scotland’s west coast.

History

The lighthouse was designed by the engineers David and Thomas Stevenson for the Northern Lighthouse Board and first lit in 1857. It was an important station in its day, and it was one of the first to use a new type of optical apparatus developed by Thomas Stevenson. His ‘condensing’ system was a refinement of the dioptric light, in which lenses and prisms gather the light of the lamp and bend it into a concentrated beam. Thomas Stevenson spent much of his career improving the way lighthouse lenses worked, and Ushenish was one of the places where his ideas were put into practice.

For more than a century the light was tended by resident keepers, who lived with their families in the cottages beside the tower in what was then one of the more isolated postings in the Board’s service. In 1970 Ushenish became one of the first major Scottish lights to be made automatic. Its keepers were withdrawn, and the light was converted to run on gas using a Dalén system, the self-regulating gas apparatus invented by the Swedish engineer Gustaf Dalén. Rather than being watched on site, it was monitored from the lighthouse at Neist Point on Skye, across the Minch, an early example of one station keeping an eye on another before the modern era of remote monitoring.

The east coast of South Uist

South Uist has two very different sides. The west coast is a long sweep of white sand beaches and flower-rich machair, with crofting townships strung along the road. The east is steep and rocky, cut by sea lochs and rising to the island’s highest hills, Beinn Mhòr and Hecla. Ushenish lies on this wilder eastern side, well away from any village, among cliffs, rough grazing and open moorland, with the sea lochs of Loch Skipport and Loch Eynort to the north and south.

Visiting

Reaching the lighthouse is a serious undertaking. It is far from the island’s road network, and there is no made path along the whole way, so the walk out across the hills and moorland is long, rough and exposed. Anyone thinking of going should plan the route with a map, allow plenty of time, and pick a settled day. The lighthouse is a working aid to navigation and is not open inside. For most people, the easier way to appreciate Ushenish is from the sea: the ferries and boat trips that cross the Little Minch pass within sight of this coast.

Wildlife

The east coast of South Uist is good country for wildlife. Golden eagles hunt over the hills, otters work the shoreline of the sea lochs, and grey seals haul out on the skerries. Out in the Minch there are porpoises and dolphins, and in summer minke whales and basking sharks are seen in these waters. Behind the coast, the island’s machair and lochs are among the most important places in Britain for breeding waders and for the rare corncrake.