The Nose of the North

Along the far north coast of Scotland, you will find the small town of Wick, population about 8,000. The town is very old and forms a part of the land originally owned by the Clan Sinclair one of the oldest Scottish Clans. This area is also steeped in the history of the Stevenson family lightbouse engineers. Robert visited the area many times and was the first to look at the possibility of erecting a lighthouse there. It was left to his son Alan to construct the first lighthouse in the area. Alan's brother Thomas was also active in the area with his design of the Wick harbor breakwater and his son Robert Louis was there during the construction of the breakwater. This story will discuss the building of the lighthouse at Noss Head. The word noss comes from the Old Norse word snos meaning a nose or, in this case, nose-shaped headland. Noss Head itself lies less than three miles north of the town. It consists of a rugged cliff jutting into the North Sea like the nose or beak it is named for-the nose of the north.