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Wick South Lighthouse

CWQC+JC Wick, UK

Name and Location

The Wick South Lighthouse marks the entrance to Wick Harbour on Scotland's north-eastern coast. Its official reference number is A 3528 in international light lists. The lighthouse is located at coordinates 58°26′20″ N, 3°04′44″ W (decimal 58.4390491, –3.0788798) and can be found on the OpenStreetMap and Google Maps.

Construction and History

The Wick South Lighthouse's construction type is not officially documented, but it appears to be a small skeletal framework tower on a concrete base. The year of its build is unknown. The lighthouse is fully automated, with no resident keepers, and has been in continuous remote monitoring.

Architecture and Materials

The lighthouse stands 12 meters tall and features a white-painted structure with a daymark and lantern platform. Its architectural style is not specified, but it appears to be a simple steel framework tower on a concrete base.

Light and Navigation

The Wick South Lighthouse displays colored sector flashes to guide vessels safely into the bay. The light characteristics are as follows: Flashes every 3 seconds; sectors: 253°–270° (green), 270°–286° (white), and 286°��329° (red). A bell fog signal is also present, with a group of 2 strokes every 10 seconds.

Accessibility and Visiting

The pier head is open to the public, but the tower base is not normally open for visitors. The approach is on foot via South Quay/B9159 from Wick town centre (approximately 1 km).

Notable Views and Landscape

Surrounding the lighthouse are working harbour facilities, quayside warehouses, and views across Wick Bay and the Pentland Firth. Nearby attractions include the Wick Heritage Centre, Old Pulteney Distillery, and Pulteneytown harbourfront and promenade.

Technical and Operational Details

The managing authority is the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB), Edinburgh. The lighthouse appears on UKHO harbour and coastal charts covering Wick and has an entry in the NGA List of Lights as A 3528.

Further Information

For more information, please visit the Northern Lighthouse Board's official website at https://www.nlb.org.uk or consult the United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's Pub. 114 "List of Lights, Buoys and Fog Signals" (2011-05-26).

Details

NameWick South Lighthouse
CityWick
CountryScotland, Uk
Coordinates58.4390491, -3.0788798
Architectural stylesmall skeletal (steel?) framework tower on concrete base
Construction materialconcrete
Focal height12
Heritage statusfalse
Access descriptionopen to pier head; tower base not normally open to visitors
Accessibletrue
Landscape typeworking harbour
View descriptionworking harbour, quayside warehouses, views across Wick Bay and the Pentland Firth
Facilitiestoilets
Nearby attractionsWick Heritage Centre, Old Pulteney Distillery, Pulteneytown harbourfront and promenade
AIS Radarfalse
Light characteristic{"sectors":[{"direction":"253°-270°","color":"green"},{"direction":"270°-286°","color":"white"},{"direction":"286°-329°","color":"red"}],"nominalPeriod":3,"photometricRange":null}
Automatedtrue