Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB05/16/022

Address :
South Light Rue Point Rathlin Island Co. Antrim

Townland:
Roonivoolin

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
25/05/2017 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Light House/ Navigation Mark

Former Use
Light House/ Navigation Mark

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
Yes

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
03/16

IG Ref:
D1505 4724

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

South (or Rue Point) Lighthouse is a four-stage octagonal concrete lighthouse dating from 1921. It is accessed down a grassy/concrete footpath from the end of the public road down the E side of the island. On its final approach to the lighthouse, the path becomes a slightly raised concrete footpath as it crosses the rocks. Along one side of it is a modern plastic/wire handrail supported on regularly-spaced painted original metal posts. The four-stage 35ft high octagonal concrete tower sits on a low concrete platform cast directly on top of the rocky foreshore. Each stage is delineated by a shallow string course and alternately painted black and white to give a banded effect. The base of the tower is slightly advanced and painted black. Flat concrete roof with two-bar metal handrail around. A low parapet runs atop a plain cornice around the edge of the roof, on which is mounted a two-bar metal handrail. There are small rectangular openings in the parapet for rainwater run-off. An omni-directional light rises 17ft from the centre of the roof (no protective lantern). It makes two white flashes every five seconds and has a range of 14 nautical miles (16.1 miles). A small radio aerial sits beside it. The landward (N) cant has a vertical metal ladder up to a cantilevered concrete platform in front of a sheeted timber door (with small louvred ventilator) at stage 2 level (stage 1 being GF). The top of the ladder can be pulled out to facilitate access to the outer end of the platform. The doorway is flanked to each side by a projecting curved metal handrail. Above the doorway is a window opening at stage 4 level. It has slightly advanced jambs and horizontal stucco head; the string course doubles as its cill. There are identical window openings at this stage to the E, S and W cants. All four opes have been blanked off and are painted black. Just SE of the lighthouse is a low concrete platform on which was originally mounted a fog gun. It was reused between 1917 and 1921 for a temporary light whilst the present one was being constructed. Setting: The lighthouse is located on the wave-swept rocky shore at the very SE tip of Rue Point, the southern-most extremity of Rathlin Island. The access track down to it passes a modern single-storey standby block housing a back-up electricity generator (grid D1511 4738). This building is aligned NE-SW and has a pitched roof with painted eaves boards and boxed eaves; no rainwater goods. Cement-rendered walls and flat-headed painted t&g door to NE gable and modern one-pane window (with shallow concrete cill) to NW elevation. The SW gable is blank. A galvanised metal ventilation duct and pipe project from its SE elevation. Concrete floor platforms in the vicinity of this building indicate the positions of the wooden huts, one of which was used by the keepers until the site was demanned in the mid-1900s. The other housed two diesel engines for generating electricity. On its final approach to the lighthouse, the path becomes a slightly raised concrete footpath as it crosses the rocks. Along one side of it is a modern plastic/wire handrail supported on regularly-spaced painted original metal posts.

Architects

Scott, Charles William

Historical Information

The present lighthouse at Rue Point is one of three on Rathlin Island and the last to have been erected; the East Light was the first in 1856, followed by the West Light in 1919. The present structure dates from 1921 and replaced a previous one of 1915. The original Rue Point lighthouse was a temporary structure erected by the Board of Trade on behalf of the Admiralty following a petition from the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce in 1914. It was first exhibited on 19 November 1915. It was augmented by an adjoining acetylene-powered fog gun from 12 April 1917. A storm in November 1917 washed the temporary light away, so a replacement was erected on the fog gun platform. It was not until 1920 that the Board of Trade began the construction of the present permanent lighthouse. It was probably designed by Charles William Scott, Engineer to Commissioners of Irish Lights from 1900 to 1930. It was completed the following year and had an acetylene lamp and fog gun on its roof. The gas was generated by an internal calcium carbide plant (when water is added to the carbine, inflammable acetylene gas is produced). As there was no room for them in the actual lighthouse, the two men who apparently looked after the lighthouse were accommodated in a wooden hut on less exposed ground to NE. The lighthouse is first shown on the 1922 OS map, being captioned "Southern Lighthouse (white light flashing)". The fog gun proved unreliable and was withdrawn on 1 January 1931; it was subsequently transferred to Barr Point, at the entrance to Larne Lough. On 9 October 1955 the acetylene lamp was replaced with an electric one which was monitored from the East Light. The electricity was supplied by batteries located inside the lighthouse. They were recharged using electricity generated by a diesel engine housed in a building some 160m NE. On 25 March 2004, a new optic was installed. Since the inception of the National Grid cable from the mainland in 2008, the batteries powering the light have been recharged using mains electricity rather than a diesel engine. However, an emergency back-up generator is still maintained in a purpose-built standby block in the vicinity of where the previous generating station once stood. References - Primary Sources: 1. PRONI: OS/6/1/1/4. Fourth edition OS 1:10,560 map, Co Antrim sheet 1 (1922). References - Secondary Sources: 1. Forsythe W. & McConkey R. 2012. An Archaeological Survey of a Maritime Landscape, pp 305-307 and 444-445 (Belfast: Northern Ireland Environment Agency). 2. Commissioners of Irish Lights website, . 3. Irish Architectural Archive, Dictionary of Irish Architects, 1720-1940, . 4. Mr Noel McCurdy, Irish Lights' Attendant, Rue Point Lighthouse (1 June 2015).

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

X. Local Interest Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance R. Age S. Authenticity T. Historic Importance V. Authorship

Evaluation

The small size and shape of this structure makes for an unusual style of lighthouse compared with most others, which are taller, wider, and round. The painted horizontal banding also accentuates its distinctive appearance. Its fabrication in concrete reflects its post World War 1 date (dressed masonry was the norm before this) Its setting, at sea level on exposed wave-swept rocks, underscores its purpose in warning passing ships of the presence of Rue Point. The fabric of this structure is completely authentic. It is the last of the three lighthouses to have been built on the Island; the others are East Light (HB05/16/010A) and West Light (HB05/16/016). Until the recent inception of GPS navigation, it was also of social and economic importance in safeguarding passenger and cargo ships passing between Rathlin and Fair Head en route to and from Britain. Finally, it is also of local interest, most probably designed by Charles William Scott.

General Comments

Date of Survey

04 March 2015