Hoy High Lighthouse, Graemsay, Orkney

(Ancients oceans are not so easy to find!)


With the building of the first lighthouses around the south, east and north of Orkney, the passage around these coasts was made much safer. However the west coast still lacked lighthouses.

In particular ships attempting to take shelter from the stormy seas of the Atlantic, had to negotiate the many dangers of the approach to, and passage through Hoy Sound, to the shelter of Stromness harbour or Cairston Roads.

In the late 1840's the demands for aids in negotiating Hoy Sound finally bore fruit and it was decided to build two lighthouses on the island of Graemsay, which lies in the centre of Hoy Sound. These lighthouses were to act as 'leading lights' guiding ships through the deep water passage in Hoy Sound.

SCRAN ID: 000-000-110-867-C; Richard Welsby