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Summary

Description

Alan Stevenson, 1851. 6-stage with lantern, circular-plan tapered tower with single stage, semi-circular-plan coal-store/dry-store to E side, standing at E side of rectangular-plan court; single storey 10-bay symmetrical Egyptian-style keepers' accommodation block to W side of court. Tower: painted stugged sandstone ashlar; channelled ashlar at 6th stage. Base course; blocking course to coal-store/dry-store; band course below 6th stage; cast-iron railings around balcony at 6th stage, supported by pointed-headed mock machiolations. Keepers' accommodation: stugged ashlar sandstone with polished dressings. Base course; massive projecting door surrounds with band course below cavetto cornice; blocking course with raised central panel above.

TOWER: raised doorpiece to W (court) side at 1st stage; band course below outswept cornice and shallow pediment above; timber-panelled door; boarded door to coal-store in each bay flanking; 3 every disposed window (blocked) in curved side of coal-store to E; 2 evenly disposed tall, tapering stacks above with band course and outswept cornices. Window (boarded) at each stage to E side of tower. Pointed-arched window at 6th stage to W side. Triangular-pane glass to lantern with hemispherical dome above.

INTERIOR: spiral stone staircase with timber handrail to main tower; architraved, timber panelled doors; timber-lined lamp room beneath lantern; painted central column supporting iron lantern floor above; brass angel statuettes and ventilators decorated with the faces of wind gods; timber and iron stair with brass handrail to lantern above; decorative lattice walkway around lantern; triangular pane apexes bearing lion masks; riveted dome with central ventilator above.

KEEPERS' HOUSES: E (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: window in 2 recessed bays to centre. Deep-set 2-leaf boarded doors with small-pane fanlight in advanced bays flanking. Window in each recessed bay flanking. Window in each advanced bay to penultimate left and right. Boarded door in recessed, slightly lower bay to outer left and right. W (REAR) ELEVATION: 6-bays. Window in each of 2 recessed bays to centre. Window in each advanced bay flanking. Window in each recessed bay to outer left and right.

Predominantly 12-pane timber sash and case windows. Platform roof; tall tapered stacks with band course below outswept cornices, regularly disposed, grouped 2-4-2; tall cans; predominantly cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: timber skirting boards, architraves and panelled doors; timber-panelled shutters.

BOUNDARY WALLS: roughly coursed rubble wall around court with curved rubble cope, extending S to enclose rectangular-plan garden; square-plan stugged ashlar, corniced gatepiers to N.

Statement of Special Interest

Described as 'the Rolls-Royce of Orkney's lighthouses', Hoy High displays particularly fine internal details such as the brass ventilators and angel statuettes. The tower dominates the flat landscape of the island of Graemsay, rising 33 meters from its east coast. In the 1840's and previously, it took skillful seamanship to negotiate the tides and skerries of Hoy Sound to reach the safety of Stromness harbour, prompting the Northern Lighthouse Board to commission the building of two 'leading lights' on the island of Graemsay, one being Hoy High, the other Hoy Low. By lining the two lights up upon approach to the harbour, their navigational use as leading lights becomes apparent, ensuring a safe entry into the Sound. Designed by Alan Stevenson and built by Alexander Wilson, the structure was erected by Irish workers who first had to construct a robust slipway at Sandside (see separate list description) and who subsequently built a road across the island from Hoy High to Hoy Low, on the west coast. The stone was initially quarried at the Bring Deeps on Hoy, but was found to be too soft, and so was imported from the Northern Isles instead. The stone was cut and the courses fashioned in Stromness and transported to the island, completing the structure early in 1851. The lights are described as 'occulating' white and red every 8 seconds with a range of 20 miles, and were tested on the 5 April that year. From plans in the NMRS, it can be seen that the keepers' accommodation consisted of 3 bedrooms along the rear (W) wall with 2 kitchens flanking a visiting officer's room to the E, facing the court. Their design is distinctive and often likened to Assyrian temples or of being Egyptian in chatacter. The semi-circular structure at the base of the tower was reserved as a coal-store with a central dry store between. The courtyard wall was originally much higher, but proved to be too high to withstand the strong sea winds and was subsequently lowered. Hoy High was automated in 1978.

References

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