Plans arranged for building Light-keepers’ houses at Arbroath.
Hitherto the account of these works has been given in the form of a Diary; but now that the chief difficulties of the undertaking are over, it is proposed to quote only particular dates in reference to their progress. At the meeting of the Commissioners of the Northern Light-houses, held at Edinburgh in the month of July 1810, it had been resolved to purchase a piece of ground contiguous to the harbour of Arbroath, which presented an unobstructed view of the Bell Rock Light-house, on which a suite of buildings was to be erected, for the accommodation of the families of the light-keepers and seamen of the Tender, and also for the necessary store-houses. Mr Charles Cunningham, Secretary to the Light-house Board, accordingly corresponded with Mr John Nicol, writer in Arbroath, who purchased the ground for the site of these buildings, together with a small court-yard and bleaching-green, as arranged and laid out in [Plate XII.] In constructing these buildings, and enclosing an extensive piece of garden-ground for the use of this establishment, the artificers, who had just returned from the Rock, were now to be employed.
Duty on stone charged for these buildings.
The Patriot had returned from Mylnefield Quarry to Arbroath with the first cargo of stones, for the use of these operations, which were about to be landed duty-free, when the Custom-house officers interposed, demanding the duty of 33 per cent. on stone carried coast-ways, as the buildings at Arbroath were not considered as coming within the exemption granted for the Bell Rock Light-house. After representing the circumstances of the case to the Board of Customs at Edinburgh, it was found that another petition would have been required to the Lords of the Treasury, before the present exemption could be granted; but the extent of the duty in question being trifling, the Light-house Board declined making any further application, and the duty was therefore regularly paid for the stones of this compartment of the work.
Three years of the lease of the Work-yard given up.
The writer finding that the Bell Rock work-yard at Arbroath, which had been taken upon a lease of seven years, could be dispensed with after the term of Martinmas, thereby leaving three unexpired years of the tack still to run, the lease was cancelled by the landlord, on his being paid one year’s rent in name of damages. This afforded a satisfactory proof of the termination of the works, at least three years sooner than the period calculated upon at its commencement. The great circular platform in the work-yard, shown in [Plate XII.], which measured 42 feet in diameter, and was sunk 2 feet 6 inches under the level of the surrounding ground, used for laying and marking the courses of the Light-house, before they were shipped for the Rock, contained a great quantity of stones suitable for the interior walls of the light-keepers’ houses. The first operation of the builders, therefore, was to remove the stones of this platform to the site of the new buildings.
Friday, 9th.
Base-line measured on the Sands of Barry.
The writer, with a view to making a survey of the coast contiguous to the Bell Rock, or from Fifeness to the Redhead, embraced the present as a convenient time for measuring a base-line. For this purpose, the Sands of Barry, about 9 miles westward from Arbroath, were selected; and he provided himself with the following apparatus: a strong iron-chain of the length of 100 feet, carefully graduated; 5 wooden coffers, each 20 feet in length, 5 inches in width, and 3 inches in depth, on which the chain was to be stretched; 10 oaken stakes, 4 feet in length, and 4 inches square at the top, for marking off distances of 1000 feet; 10 picket-rods of fir timber, measuring 8 feet in length, with cross boards at the top; 2 spars of 20 feet in length, with small red flags for marking the termination at each end of the Line; and one of Messrs Miller and Adie’s best Theodolites. With these, he left the harbour of Arbroath at 5 on the morning of the 9th of August, in one of the Bell Rock boats, manned with six seamen, and accompanied by one of his assistants. At 8 o’clock they reached the small village called the Feus; and after walking about two miles and a half along the Sands of Barry, flag-staffs were erected at the extremities of the line intended to be measured, which, in relation to each other, were situate by compass S.W. ½ S., and N.E. ½ N. The next operation was to mark off the first 1000 feet of the line in a general way, with the picket-rods, into spaces of 100 feet. The wooden coffers, or troughs, for levelling and directing the chain, were then laid on the sands, which being naturally very flat, required only that certain places of the track should be partially cleared with the spade. The chain was then stretched by two of the seamen, to a degree of tension which they were directed to give it, by as regular and uniform a strain as possible; and the links being all previously examined, the distances were carefully marked with an iron pricker. In this manner, the whole length of a line, extending to 10,866 feet and 9½ inches was measured. This was altogether a most laborious operation, occupying 14 hours, including the short time the party were at their meals, which were taken on the field. The line having been thus gone over from North-east to South-west, the operation was reversed as a check, from South-west to North-east; the result of which was not a little satisfactory, as the second measurement only varied one inch from the first, though the line extended upwards of two miles. The weather was very favourable; the wind being westerly, and blowing gentle breezes, while the barometer remained steadily at about 29.78.; the temperature was marked three times a day, and averaged 54°. The angles and bearings of the Bell Rock and other objects having been taken from this base-line, were ultimately referred to in constructing the map of the coast delineated on [Plate IV.]
Trigonometrical Survey of Great Britain.