Inner Hebrides

Place of the lighthouse

Skerville Lighthouse (Scottish Gaelic: Sgeir Maoile) is a lighthouse located on a rocky reef in the Sound of Jura, an inlet between the Jura Islands and Islay (Inner Hebrides), in the county of Argyll and Bute in western Scotland . It is located approximately 3 km from Lowlandman Bay on the southeast coast of the Jura.

Building of the Lighthouse

It was constructed (as part of a major programme of construction) by David and Thomas Stevenson, and was first lit in 1865, having remained unlit for five years after its completion on account of a disagreement between the Commissioners of Northern Lights and the Board of Trade.

Warning systems (Light, Fog horn, Radar Beacon)

Before the lighthouse was built, the reef was lit with a small beacon from 1839. Skervuile Lighthouse was established in 1860. However, it was not lit for the first five years due to a disagreement between the Board of Trade and the Northern Lighthouse Board. It was finally lit in 1865. In 1945 Skervuile Lighthouse was downgraded to minor light status and automated. It became the first major light to be automated in the twentieth century.

Information about the lighthouse specific

The lighthouse keepers sent communications using a series of balls hoisted from the lantern. Depending on the pattern of balls, they would indicate different messages. At the shore station, a flag signalling platform was located on the rocks behind. The boatmen and lighthouse keeper on duty ashore would watch out for signals daily at certain times. If visibility was poor, the signs were kept up in the hope that the weather would clear.

Access to the lighthouse was often tricky. In November 1881, the Skervuile relief boat sank in a storm at her moorings in Lowlandman’s Bay, near the shore station.

Operational status

This lighthouse is operated by the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) in Edinburgh, the maritime aid agency for the coasts of Scotland.

Additional information

At the northern end of Lowlandman’s Bay at A’Mhalairt, the former keepers’ cottages were built in 1861. This was the shore station for the lighthouse keepers and their families. It was nestled behind a rocky outcrop.

The house consisted of four units in total. Three of these had four rooms, and the remaining quarter had coal cellars and a workshop. Two apartments were on the first floor, accessed by a shared stairway. The third apartment was on the ground floor. At the southern end of the enclosure were a couple of outhouses for the boatman.

Lowlandmans Bay

The shore station cottages at Lowlandman’s Bay were subsequently sold to a private owner around 1957. At the time, there was no electricity or running water. Water came from a tap attached to a nearby well. The accommodation has been sold and extended several times. The property was extended into a significant single house with three floors. A large loft space provides views across to the lighthouse over the rocky outcrop. Boat trips can be arranged out past Skervuile from Craighouse.

Further north along the coastline is Barnhill, the former house of George Orwell. It was from here that he wrote 1984 between 1946 – 1948. It certainly provided the solitude he needed.

The Corryvreckan Whirlpool

Although the sea appears very calm in the accompanying photos, this is not always the case in this area. Not too far away from Skervuile, between the islands of Jura and Scarba in the north lies the Corryvreckan Whirlpool.

It is one of the largest permanent eddies in the world and one of the most dangerous wetlands around the British Isles. It is said that at certain times the roar is so loud that it can be heard ten miles away. At full strength, currents can reach more than 10 knots and produce waves more than 9 meters high. Visitors will find a number of tour operators in the area offering boat trips to the whirlpool and surrounding waters, known as the Gulf of Corryvreckan.

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Ardbeg Corryvreckan is named after the whirlpool in the north of Islay. A swirl of diverse aromas, ranging from smoky peat to sharp pepper, gives this whiskey a beautifully balanced character.

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"Like the whirlpool, Ardbeg Corryvreckan is not for the faint of heart"