Cloch

Cloch Point Lighthouse

Cloch Point light from the north, looking towards Innellan
Location	Firth of Clyde NS202758
Coordinates	55°56′29″N 4°52′50″W / 55.94151°N 4.88049°W / 55.94151; -4.88049Coordinates: 55°56′29″N 4°52′50″W / 55.94151°N 4.88049°W / 55.94151; -4.88049
Year first constructed	1797
Year first lit	1797
Construction	white tower with a black band
Height	76 feet (23 m)
Focal height	76 feet (23 m)
Intensity	40,000 candela
Range	14 nautical miles
Characteristic	Fl. W 3sec
Fog signal	(c.1895)

Cloch or Cloch Point (Scottish Gaelic: stone) is a point on the coast of the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. There has been a lighthouse since 1797 to warn ships off The Gantocks.

Location

Cloch Point lies on the A770, north of Inverkip, three miles south west of Gourock, on the east shore of the Firth of Clyde, directly opposite Dunoon.

Lighthouse

The Cloch Lighthouse was designed by Thomas Smith and his son-in-law Robert Stevenson. Building was completed in 1797. There appear to be two generations of keepers' houses, the older now used as stores and the more recent having crow-stepped gables. The short circular-section tower has a corbelled walkway and triangular windows. The foghorns were added between 1895 and 1897.

Cloch Point Lighthouse

The light was built by John Clarkson (engineer); Kermack and Gall built the tower, while Smith and Stevenson installed the oil lantern which was first lit on 11 August 1797.^[1] The light was replaced in 1829 with an argand lamp and silvered reflector. About 1900, it was lit with acetylene. A radio beacon was installed about 1931.

The dioptric and catadioptric lenses floated in baths of mercury, and were rotated by a clockwork mechanism powered by falling weights.^[2] As well as tending the light, the keepers had to wind the mechanism by hand every two to three hours.

Today, the light is fully automated and unmanned. The main light has been replaced by a light on a pole outside the lantern room.

References