JOINT REPORT by John Rennie and Robert Stevenson.
Edinburgh, 26th December 1806.
Gentlemen,
You having at your meeting on the 10th instant resolved that the Light-house to be erected on the Bell Rock shall be of stone, we, according to your request, went to Aberdeen and Mylnefield, for the purpose of examining into the quality and price at which stone for the erection of the Light-house could be delivered at Arbroath, the place where it is proposed the materials shall be prepared for the work.
At Aberdeen, we found that many additional quarries had lately been opened, some of them of an excellent quality, and capable of producing larger blocks of stone than granite quarries usually do; but still it is doubtful, as has been formerly mentioned, whether any one quarry will be found to produce a sufficiency of large blocks in any reasonable time; but by purchasing from different quarries, a regular supply may be procured for all the purposes wanted, in case you shall determine upon using the granite in preference to stones from Kingoodie. The Aberdeen granite is of so very strong and durable a nature, and has been used in works where the sea has acted upon it for time immemorial, that no doubt can possibly be entertained respecting its adaptation to a work of this kind. There is also every reason to believe, that the Kingoodie stone resists the sea and weather equally well, but we have not been able to collect such positive proofs of this as of the other; for, although a good deal of that stone has been used in the piers of the harbour of Dundee, yet, as this has been mixed with other sorts of the same appearance, and nearly of the same composition of those of Kingoodie, it prevents the possibility of our saying whether some of the stones that have wasted may not be Kingoodie, although we have great reason to believe that they are not. However, where facts cannot be positively ascertained, doubts exist; and we think, that a Light-house upon the Bell Rock is too important a work to suffer even a doubt to exist; and we have no hesitation, therefore, in recommending, that the under part of the building, at least as high as the first apartment, should be of Aberdeen granite; and as this is the great bulk of the work, it may be as well, perhaps, to complete the outer course of granite to the top.
As to the extra price this will incur, we cannot at present correctly say. We have had two offers for granite from the Rubislaw and Dancing-Cairn Quarries. The former by Robert Spalding, is at 10d. per cubic foot, delivered on the quay at Aberdeen, but, as the expence of shipping and shore-dues are not included, this may be fairly reckoned at 2d. per cubic foot more. The other is from Snell, Ranie and Thom, at 1s. 4d. per cubic foot, delivered free on board a vessel at the quay. Now, as the freight from Aberdeen to Arbroath will be about 7d. per cubic foot, and as an agent must be employed to examine and see the stone delivered by the different quarry-men, we suppose that 1d. per foot may be added for commission; so that, exclusive of Government duties, the offer for Aberdeen stones will stand nearly as follows: Spalding’s offer, with charges, will amount to 1s. 8d. per cubic foot, and Snell and Company’s at 2s. The expence of working the Aberdeen stone will come high, we doubt, for such a work as this. Where dove-tails, and other devices for the security of the building will be necessary, it cannot cost less than 2s. 6d. per cubic foot. Now, taking the price of stone at the average of the above offers, it will amount, with workmanship and freights, to 4s. 4d. per cubic foot, so that the casing or outside course of granite will amount to about L. 7266. Mr Mylne offers to supply blocks of Dundee or Kingoodie stone, put free on ship-board, at 1s. per cubic foot; the freight from thence to Arbroath will be about 4d. per cubic foot, so that the stone will cost at Arbroath 1s. 4d. The working of this stone will cost about 1s. 6d. per foot, making the cost of the Kingoodie stone 2s. 10d.; therefore a casing of Dundee stone would amount to L. 4760, making a difference in favour of Kingoodie stone of L. 2506.
The next question that arises here is, what kind of stone should be used for the hearting of the building, where nothing can affect the stone, of whatever quality it may be; and here the Arbroath or Redhead quarries may come into competition. There are arguments in favour of both; the Kingoodie will be more expensive, but its specific gravity is greater, and it is of a much stronger nature than the Arbroath stone. If Kingoodie stone is used for the hearting, the cost of the stone, with freight and cutting, will be about L. 2124. The Arbroath stone will cost, delivered at the work, about 9s. per ton of 16 cubic feet, and cutting about 1s. per cubic foot, so that the total cost will be about L. 1172, a difference in favour of the Arbroath stone, besides duty, of about L. 952. Now, whether you may agree to pay this extra price we will not venture to anticipate, but we have no hesitation in saying that the Kingoodie stone is the best.
Another object which occupied our attention, was the procuring of a piece of ground at Arbroath, with proper sheds and warehouses, near the harbour, for the purpose of dressing the stones, laying the courses as they are to be in the Light-house, keeping stores, &c. &c. For this purpose we applied to Messrs Duncan and Cargill, who have a ship-builder’s yard adjoining the harbour, and who some time since intimated their intention of disposing of it; but we found that the place was not of the dimensions necessary for the work, that the warehouses on the ground did not belong to the ship-yard, and that the people had not finally determined upon disposing of this place. We therefore inquired further, and found a piece of ground much larger than the carpenter’s yard, and nearly as well situated, but there are no buildings upon it; and indeed, there is no other spot at all convenient, or near the harbour, that can be had. We therefore saw the proprietor John Taylor, and he has offered to let the whole for seven years, at the rent of Twenty Guineas per annum. The rent is high, but the situation is such as to render it more suitable than any other, and therefore we advise Mr Taylor’s proposal to be accepted.
Having now stated the result of the several objects for which our journey northward was undertaken, it may be proper to mention what occurs to us as the best mode of proceeding respecting the measures to be taken for the erection of the Light-house, with the construction that appears best suited to the stability of the work. The first object that naturally presents itself is the establishment of the Floating-Light, now in preparation, respecting which some correspondence has taken place between Mr Stevenson and Captain Huddert of the Trinity Board of London, which is now before you. Their information is very satisfactory, and from the measures taken in advising with the Trinity-House of Leith, it is hoped that every thing relative to the fitting out of the Prussian-dogger, purchased for this service, will be the most complete of the kind, and the sooner she can be got to her moorings the better, that the operations at the Rock may be commenced, and that the duties may be collected for paying the Treasury loan, and otherwise adding to the general fund.