Inchkeith
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Inchkeith (Gaelic: Innis Cheith or Innis Chè) is an island in the Firth of Forth, Scotland. It is located off Leith, but is officially part of Fife.
Inchkeith is home to Inchkeith Lighthouse, designed and built by Thomas Smith and Robert Stevenson. The light stands 67 metres high, it currently flashes every 15 seconds and has a nominal range of 22 miles. It was built in 1803, operational by 1804, and is now listed as a building of Architectural/Historic significance[1]. In 1986 the lightkeepers were withdrawn when the lighthouse was automated and the owners, the Northern Lighthouse Board, sold the island to Tom Farmer.
The island has the lowest average rainfall in Scotland at 550mm (21.75inches) annually.
The island has been used for military purposes from at least the 16th century, it is covered with gun emplacements from the 19th Century, World War I and World War II.
The island is privately owned and permission is needed to land there.
The island features occasionally in a riddle, "How many inches is the Forth?", playing on a pun on 'Inch' (Innis) an old Gaelic word for island, and inch, the imperial measurement.
[edit] External links
- grid reference NT295825
- Northern Lighthouse Board - Inchkeith
- Lighthouse - Listed building details ((HB num=9707), maintained by Historic Scotland. PASTMAP search site
Bass Rock · Craigleith · Cramond Island · Eyebroughy · Fidra · Inchcolm · Inchgarvie · Inchkeith · Inchmickery · The Lamb · Isle of May
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