heritage asset · lens

Lismore Lighthouse: Chance Brothers fourth-order fixed lens

Lismore Lighthouse and its keeper houses on the low island of Eilean Musdile, seen from the water. — Lismore Lighthouse on Eilean Musdile. This is station context for the optic record; the photograph does not establish the historical lens's presence or survival.
Lismore Lighthouse on Eilean Musdile — Ray in Manila / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 · Source

This record describes a Chance Brothers fourth-order fixed lens catalogued for Lismore Lighthouse on Eilean Musdile, not the whole lighthouse station. Chance Heritage Trust dates its manufacture to 1909, but the exact installation date has not been confirmed.

The station itself was built under Robert Stevenson, first exhibited a fixed white light in October 1833, and was automated in June 1965. It remains an active Northern Lighthouse Board light at the entrance to Loch Linnhe.

The evidence does not yet form a continuous optic history. Northern Lighthouse Board states that Lismore was still purely catoptric in 1910, while the Chance catalogue records a 1909 fixed lens; Chance Heritage Trust also treats removal during the 1965 automation as an unconfirmed presumption. The lens's installation history and present survival therefore remain open questions.

At a glance

Manufacture date: 1909
Lens order: Fourth order
Lens type: Fixed
Installation status: Not confirmed; NLB described a purely catoptric light in 1910
Present status: Unknown after June 1965 automation

Evidence note

The Chance catalogue supports a fourth-order fixed lens manufactured in 1909, but NLB's statement that Lismore remained purely catoptric in 1910 prevents a confident installation date. Chance Heritage Trust also leaves removal during the 1965 automation unconfirmed.

Source Evidence

Direct relationships

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Manufactured by
Chance Brothers Smethwick Works1909reviewed
Chance Heritage Trust catalogues a Chance Brothers fourth-order fixed lens manufactured in 1909 for the Lismore record; this relation records manufacture, not installation.
Manufactured For
Lismore Lighthouse station fabric1909reviewed
The Chance catalogue associates the 1909 lens with Lismore Lighthouse. Installation is not asserted because NLB describes Lismore as purely catoptric in 1910, and present survival is unknown.

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Rights & Attribution

Content License

Original editorial content on this page: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International. See Rights & Reuse.

Media Rights

Lismore Lighthouse and its keeper houses on the low island of Eilean Musdile, seen from the water. · Rights status: CC BY · License: CC BY 2.0 · Third-party material · Credit the creator, link the CC BY 2.0 license, and indicate modifications.

Attribution

"Lismore Lighthouse: Chance Brothers fourth-order fixed lens" · LUX-ASSET-000198 · © LUX143 · Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International · https://light.lux143.org/heritage-assets/LUX-ASSET-000198/ Lismore Lighthouse on Eilean Musdile — Ray in Manila / Wikimedia Commons · Rights status: CC BY · CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) · Source: Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lismore_Lighthouse_on_Eileen_Musdile,_Scotland.jpg · © Ray in Manila · Credit the creator, link the CC BY 2.0 license, and indicate modifications.

Citation

LUX Light Archive, Heritage asset: "Lismore Lighthouse: Chance Brothers fourth-order fixed lens", LUX-ASSET-000198, https://light.lux143.org/heritage-assets/LUX-ASSET-000198/, accessed 2026-08-10, archive v0.24.362.