North Queensferry Light Tower

An Act of Parliament in 1809 formalised the ferry rights at the Queensferry Passage. These rights were previously owned and operated for centuries by individual landowners and boatmen.

‘The Great Line of Communication between the North and South of Scotland’ were the words used by John Rennie - civil engineer- on the map of the Queensferry Piers he published for the Trustees after the first phase of construction had been carried out in 1812. The first image to approaching boats would have been the light tower at North Queensferry, installed on top of the Signal House and designed in 1812 by Robert Stevenson, engineer to the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses. Work had already started to improve piers, landing places and roads on both sides of the river Forth.
John Rennie, Robert Stevenson and Thomas Telford were all commissioned by the Trustees and respectively constructed new facilities on both sides of the river, installed the harbour lights and extended the Town pier at North Queensferry when steam boats were taking over from sail. These were all milestones in the progress of engineering skills in Scotland which ultimately benefited the world.

North Queensferry Heritage Trust has secured a long term lease from Fife Council on the light tower located at the Town pier. It is proposed to open as a tourist attraction when refurbishment and fitting out is complete. This includes repairs to the external stonework, though considering its age and weathering, it is still in a fair state of repair. Internally the walls are finished with a lime wash and mortar which will have to be totally renewed. Some of the missing stones which make up the internal flue and air intake to the lamp have been remade.

The cast iron supports and window frames of the light room were showing considerable deterioration and have been replaced using the only original window frame as a template. All the internal light fitments had been removed, many years ago, with the exception of the smoke tube which acted as a flue for the small pipe stove thereby ensuring proper extraction of hot gases from the light itself.

Now restored, the Heritage Trust is installing a replica light copied from an original held by the National Museum of Scotland. The original Argand lamp, complete with 21 inch diameter parabolic reflector, was adapted by Stevenson to use whale oil as its fuel source. By 1812 this style of light was already installed at Inchkeith and Bellrock lighthouses.

The purpose built tower, at a total height of 6.5 metres (Approx 21 feet), was constructed to Stevenson’s specifications in 1817 and the original light on the Signal House transferred to the new location. The original light fulfilled the function of a lighthouse but to be effective as a harbour light it had also to illuminate the pier for the convenience of the large numbers of people, animals and coaches making the regular crossing.

With the opening of this small iconic harbour light as a tourist attraction, in an easily accessible location, visitors will be invited to ‘light the lamp’ on a demonstration basis giving an authentic ‘hands on’ experience of how the keeper’s daily lighting programme kept the service running.

Role models play an important part in inspiring people to take up the challenge of extending the legacy left by previous generations. At North Queensferry, the control point for the original Queensferry Passage, it is particularly fortunate that 200 hundred year old examples of the work of not only John Rennie, Robert Stevenson and Thomas Telford remain, but also the more recent magnificent examples of the Forth rail and road bridges to inspire visitors and the local community.

Summary
Restoration of harbour light tower at North Queensferry and installation of a replica lighting system as designed by Robert Stevenson in 1817.

Architect: Gordon and Dey, Ian Ballantine

North Queensferry Heritage Trust believes a restored light tower, complete with lighting system designed by Robert Stevenson in 1817 will be an attraction visitors will wish to see and operate. Why the light tower was built, on whose authority, and the context of the setting at the northern end of the Queensferry Passage, with the Forth Bridge in the background, should contribute much to its appeal. This light tower with a flame as its light source will probably be the only one of its type in the world and visitors will be able to ‘light the lamp’ thereby providing each person with a unique photo opportunity and personal experience. It is expected that the tower will open to visitors within the next two months and an opportunity for employment will have been created.

At the present time it is too early to properly assess if all the expectations of the Heritage Trust have been met as the building is not yet open visitors. However the restoration of the light tower itself has been completed and was undertaken in four separate sections. Firstly the countless hours of research undertaken by our volunteer members which enabled the project to be authenticated, focused and then funded.
Secondly the external stonework was entirely re-pointed and internally some stones replaced and the whole area repainted with a lime based wash. Part of the process was used to demonstrate traditional skills to local school children.
Thirdly the entire light room, which had severely deteriorated over the years was lifted from the tower and transported to a local ironfounder for refurbishment and replacement of all the cast iron windows and finally re-fitted and re-glazed with original style glass.
In both cases the instructions given to the contractors was to preserve as much as possible of the original material and if an item had to be remade then authenticity of material and design was important.
The fourth section was the making of the replica lighting system which was to follow the design, as noted by Robert Stevenson, found in his archive and to copy an original Argand lamp held by the National Museum of Scotland. The trust appreciated that the skills required to manufacture this lamp would be hard to find but again a local source of manufacturing using copper and brass was found.
The light tower was built nearly 200 years ago and the trust’s aim was to make restoration last for at least another 200 years. All of our contractors undertook their section of the project with an enthusiasm which showed in the quality of the work and to that extend our expectations were exceeded.