FLANNAN ISLE

THE LIGHTHOUSE
Designed by David Alan Stevenson, the 23 metres (75 ft) tower was
constructed for the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) between 1895 and
1899 and is located near the highest point on Eilean Mòr. Construction was
undertaken by George Lawson of Rutherglen at a cost of £6,914 inclusive of
the building of the landing places, stairs, railway tracks etc. All of the
materials used had to be hauled up the 150 ft (45 metre) cliffs directly from
supply boats, no trivial task in the ever-churning Atlantic. A further £3,526
was spent on the shore station at Breasclete on the Isle of Lewis.[7] It was
first lit on 7 December 1899. In 1925 it was one of the first Scottish lights to
receive communications from the shore by wireless telegraphy.[13] On 28
September 1971, it was automated . A reinforced concrete helipad was
constructed at the same time to enable maintenance visits in heavy
weather. The light is produced by burning acetylene gas and has a range of
20 miles (32 kilometres). It is now monitored from the Butt of Lewis[4] and
the shore station has been converted into flats.[14] Other than its relative
isolation it would be a relatively unremarkable light, were it not for the
events which took place just over a year after it was commissioned.
 DISCOVERY
• The first hint of anything untoward on the Flannan Isles came on 15 December, 1900. The steamer Archtor on
passage from Philadelphia to Leith passed the islands in poor weather and noted that the light was not
operational. This was reported on arrival at Oban although no immediate action seems to have been taken. The
island lighthouse was manned by a three man team, with a rotating fourth man spending time on shore. The relief
vessel, the lighthouse tender Hesperus, was unable to set out on a routine visit from Lewis planned for 20
December due to adverse weather and did not arrive until noon on Boxing Day (26 December). On arrival the
crew and relief keeper found that the flagstaff was bare of its flag, none of the usual provision boxes had been left
on the landing stage for re-stocking and, more ominously, none of the lighthouse keepers were there to welcome
them ashore. Jim Harvie, captain of the Hesperus, gave a strident blast on his whistle and set off a distress flare,
but no reply was forthcoming.
• A boat was launched and Joseph Moore, the relief keeper, was put ashore alone. He found the entrance gate to
the compound and main door both closed, the beds unmade and the clock stopped. Returning to the landing
stage with this grim news he then went back up to the lighthouse with the Hesperus's second-mate and a
seaman. A further search revealed that the lamps were cleaned and refilled. A set of oilskins were found,
suggesting that one of the keepers had left the lighthouse without them, which was surprising considering the
severity of the weather. The only sign of anything amiss in the lighthouse was an overturned chair by the kitchen
table. Of the keepers there was no sign, either inside the lighthouse or anywhere on the island. [15]
• Moore and three volunteer seamen were left to attend the light and the Hesperus returned to the shore station at
Breasclete. Captain Harvie sent a telegram to the Northern Lighthouse Board dated 26 December, 1900 stating:
• A dreadful accident has happened at the Flannans. The three keepers, Ducat, Marshall and the Occasional have
disappeared from the Island. The clocks were stopped and other signs indicated that the accident must have
happened about a week ago. Poor fellows must have been blown over the cliffs or drowned trying to rescue a
crane or something like that.[15][4]
• The men remaining on the island scoured every corner for clues as to the fate of the keepers. At the east landing
everything was intact, but the west landing provided considerable evidence of damage caused by recent storms.
A box at 33 metres (110 ft) above sea level had been broken and its contents strewn about; iron railings were
bent over, the iron railway by the path was wrenched out of its concrete, and a rock weighing over a ton had been
displaced above that. On top of the cliff at over 60 metres (200 ft) above sea level turf had been ripped away over
10 metres (33 ft) from the cliff edge. However, the keepers had kept their log until 9 a.m. on 15 December and
this made it clear the damage had occurred before the writers' disappearance.
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