Description
The Riv Beacon, Sanday was built in 1863-4 by the Northern Lighthouse Board to plans by the board's engineer, Alan Stevenson. This unlit beacon marks the seaward end of the Riv, a low-lying and partially submerged reef of rock, boulders and stones, extending around 1km north from the point of Burness, west of Whitemill Bay, on the North Ronaldsay Firth.
The Riv Beacon stands on bedrock and is an iron structure 14m in height, constructed of six columns of cast iron with horizontal bracing. The columns are surmounted by a cylindrical open iron cage with a cross on top. This served as a place of refuge for shipwrecked mariners. An iron platform and ladder within the columned structure provided access from ground level to the cage.
Historical development
The Old Statistical Account (Cross, Burness, North Ronaldshay and Ladykirk, County of Orkney, OSA, Vol. VII, 1793) describes the hazard to shipping posed by the islands of Sanday and North Ronaldsay, with some 5000 tons of shipping lost around the islands over an 18 year period until 1793.
In 1806, a lighthouse was placed at Start Point, the easternmost point of the island of Sanday. Replacing an earlier unlit tower, this lighthouse served to mark the eastern entrance to the North Ronaldsay Firth. However, the western approaches to the North Ronaldsay Firth remained unmarked, including the notable hazard of the Riv where four shipwreck incidents are recorded in the National Record for the Historic Environment as occurring between 1809 and 1864 (see Canmore IDs 259016; 269216;285503;119366).
Construction of a beacon at The Riv began in 1863, and recommenced in spring 1864 (Orkney Herald, and Weekly Advertiser and Gazette for the Orkney & Zetland Islands - Tuesday 12 April 1864). The completion of the beacon was announced by Northern Lighthouse Board in a Notice To Mariners (Orkney Herald, and Weekly Advertiser and Gazette for the Orkney & Zetland Islands - Tuesday 6 September 1864). It appears as 'beacon' on OS First Edition mapping (surveyed 1879, published 1882) and is shown as a red beacon 34ft high on Admiralty Chart (revised to 1893).
Statement of Special Interest
The Riv Beacon meets the criteria of special architectural or historic interest for the following reasons:
- The Riv Beacon is an example of a mid-19th-century beacon and chair of refuge by the renowned Northern Lighthouse Board engineer Alan Stevenson and retains much of its original character.
- Although part of a relatively common building type, few examples of these beacons and chair of refuge survive in an unaltered condition, including the open cage, ladder, and cross.
- The coastal setting of The Riv at the northernmost point of the island of Sanday is largely unchanged since the beacon was built. The survival of The Riv Beacon, together with the lighthouse at Start Point on the east coast of Sanday, are important for understanding the steps taken by Northern Lighthouse Board to safeguard coastal shipping in the North Ronaldsay Firth and northern isles of Orkney during the 19th century.
Design
The Riv Beacon is of design interest as an early 19th century beacon and 'chair of refuge' built in Scotland to a design by the renowned engineer Alan Stevenson. Researchers (Paxton and Shipway 2007a) believe that the six-legged iron frame design of the The Riv Beacon and others of similar design (e.g East Vows, Firth of Forth and Halliman Skerries, Moray Firth) installed around Scotland from the 1840s (Munro, 1979;125) were likely to have been based on Robert Stevenson's earlier concept for the nearby North Carr beacon (Paxton and Shipway 2007b). Robert Stevenson himself had described the framework of six cast iron pipes that formed the North Carr beacon, as being 'of great strength, fashioned somewhat after the manner of what seamen term a spar or spar beacon, from being made generally of timber, set up in the form of struts or spur-beams' (Stevenson 1824: 487).
The design of The Riv Beacon differs however from North Carr and it was intended to perform more than one purpose. It served as a day mark to warn sailors away from the hazard of The Riv. However, the beacon also served as a refuge for shipwrecked mariners and others in distress with the identical beacon at Halliman Skerries being described in the Ordnance Survey Name Book (OS1/13/81/74) as being 'supplied with steps like a ladder and there is a cage upon the top for the purpose accommodating Shipwrecked Seamen'. The East Vows chair of refuge, apparently of identical design, was reported to be large enough to hold 8 or 10 persons. Of design interest, therefore, are the survival of the cylindrical cage along with the platform and ladder that enabled access for those in distress, and also the cross, reflecting perhaps the close historical connections between the church and the seafaring community.
Despite the exposed location of The Riv, the cast iron beacon and refuge chair survives in its original 19th century form and is of design interest.
Setting
The location for lighthouses and beacons is critical to their function. The Riv Beacon marks a partially submerged reef at the western entrance to the North Ronaldsay Firth, a seaway separating the islands of Sanday and North Ronaldsay. It therefore represented a significant hazard for vessels navigating along the north coast of the North Isles of Orkney. The beacon continues to perform this function, remaining visible from the sea, and from the coast.
The nearby setting of this beacon contributes to our understanding of its function or historical context. The construction of the beacon can be understood through the construction of a lighthouse on North Ronaldsay in 1789 to mark the northern approach to Orkney and Start Point Lighthouse on Sanday, which marked the eastern entrance to the North Ronaldsay Firth. The surviving lighthouse at Start Point (LB12675) dates to c.1880 and replaced an earlier lighthouse of 1806 date, which in turn had replaced an unlit stone tower from 1802.
Together these beacons and lighthouses warned vessels away from the hazards of the north coast of Orkney and the North Ronaldsay Firth. They continue to perform this function [2020].
Historic interest
Age and rarity
The Riv Beacon is of interest as one of a small number of surviving fixed beacon and chairs of refuge built by the Northern Lighthouse Board to warn shipping away from hazardous reefs, and for the rescue of shipwrecked mariners and others in distress.
There are over 200 operational Northern Lighthouse Board lighthouses within Scotland, with many other examples either decommissioned or operated by other organisations and groups. They range from elegant stone pinnacles on remote reefs far out to sea, to small navigational beacons and modern modular lights. Of these, around 150 lighthouses of various shapes, sizes and types are currently designated as either listed buildings or scheduled monuments, representing a wide range of specific navigational dangers that required marking.
In 1979, researchers recorded around 50 unlit beacons of which the oldest was the beacon at North Carr, built 1818 (Munro, 1979:248). The Riv Beacon is not the earliest surviving example of this design of iron beacon, which incorporated a refuge chair (Munro, 1979: 122). The earliest surviving example is likely to be the Halliman Skerries Beacon. Other surviving examples include East Vows, Firth of Forth. However, although it is not the earliest example, its use at The Riv provides evidence that the design was enduring.
Furthermore, the Riv Beacon is a rare survival as many other examples of these beacons and chairs of refuge appear to have been replaced or altered. For example, Stroma Skerry Beacon (Canmore ID283968) and Ruff Reef Beacon (Canmore ID74480) have had the refuge removed and replaced with a solar power pack and automatic minor light. The beacon refuge survives in its original form and The Riv Beacon is therefore a rare intact example of these mid-19th-century beacons.
Social historical interest
The Riv Beacon is of social historical interest in helping us to understand this system of seamarks and the contribution they made, alongside major and minor lights, in safeguarding shipping around the coast of Scotland.
The significance of Scotland network of lighthouses and beacons to the country's history is high. As an island nation with over 18,000 kilometres of coastline and over 900 islands, maritime industries such as fishing, coastal trade and transportation have long been significant social and economic factors. Scotland's coasts are also located on international sea-routes linking northern Europe with the rest of the world. The use of lighthouses and beacons was therefore vital to the safety of shipping in Scottish waters. Prior to the construction of Scotland's lighthouses, most navigation markers were landmarks visible only during daylight, and so nautical navigation at night or in poor conditions was a highly dangerous but sometimes unavoidable undertaking. This is reflected in the large numbers of records of ships and sailors lost in wrecking incidents around the coasts of Scotland during the 19th and 19th centuries.
The first lighthouse in Scotland was established on the Isle of May (SM887) in 1636. This light aided navigation into the many harbours around the Firth of Forth and took the form of a stone tower mounting a coal fired brazier. Although the Isle of May beacon was far from as bright as later examples, in good weather it good be seen from as far as the entrance to the Tay, and it would remain operational for 180 years. The Isle of May was followed by several other lighthouses and beacons being built from the late 17th century, improving navigation for the Tay, the Solway and the Clyde.
A common factor in all the lights established in the first 150 years was that they were conceived, built and operated by private interests and organisations, such as local magistrates, councils and individuals, supported by the king and parliament when necessary. By the early 1780s, however, there was a growing recognition that many shipping and navigational dangers existed far beyond the profitable harbours and estuaries that had driven the development of the early lights. To address this, in 1786 parliament passed "An Act for erecting certain Light-houses in the Northern Parts of Great Britain" and established a board of Commissioners (subsequently to become the Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouses and then the Northern Lighthouse Board), initially to undertake the work of building and maintaining lights at four locations, including Kinnaird Head (LB31888), Eilean Glas (LB13487), Mull of Kintyre (LB19874) and North Ronaldsay (SM6596). These lights were the work of the Board's first engineer, Thomas Smith, and his assistant Robert Stevenson, and used improved lighting technology in the form of whale oil burners and mirrored reflectors to enhance the brightness.
Following the 1786 Act, the number of lighthouses around the coasts of Scotland began to rapidly grow, along with the technology and engineering skills employed. By the early 19th century oil lamps were replacing the earlier coal burners, and Robert Stevenson had been able to design and build a lighthouse on the Bell Rock (LB45197). Throughout the 19th and early 20th century, Robert Stevenson and his descendants continued to push the boundaries of technology and engineering to expand the network, including lights on Skerryvore (LB17489), Muckle Flugga (LB17479), Dhu Heartach (LB12320), and the Flannan Isles (LB48143). In addition to the major lights, fixed seamarks were also used, many marking rocks and reefs that represented a significant hazard to navigation and threat to life, but which were inaccessible and impractical from the point of view of erecting a lighthouse. The Riv Beacon provides an important illustration of the innovative designs of beacons and refuges that were developed during the 19th century to safeguard life at sea.
Association with people or events of national importance
The Riv Beacon has a close historical association of national importance.
This beacon and earlier identical examples from the 1840s were designed by the internationally renowned engineer Alan Stevenson, engineer to the Northern Lighthouse Board (1843-53). Alan Stevenson was the second of several generations of Stevenson family appointed as engineers to the board. Robert, Alan, David, Thomas, and David A Stevenson were jointly responsible for the design and construction of lighthouses in Scotland over a period of nearly 150 years. Alan Stevenson's legacy is evident at sites such as Skerryvore, and Ardnamurchan. He also designed and carried out some notable improvements on dioptric apparatus used in lighthouses. The Riv Beacon is an example of Alan Stevenson's innovative work on seamarks and chairs of refuge to help safeguard loss of life.