Museum focus turned on Bell Rock lens room

ARBROATH’S Signal Tower Museum has shone new light on an important piece of maritime heritage with the reopening of the Bell Rock lens room after several years in the shade.

Closed since 2010, the lens room has undergone an extensive refurbishment, thanks to funding from the Northern Lighthouse Heritage Trust.

The seafront building’s keepers, ANGUSalive, can now show the lens in a new and contemporary display that highlights its structure and beauty.

Museum officer Kirsten Couper said: “We are all delighted to open the doors to the lens room once again.

“We are often asked by visitors about the lens and having this space reopened is a wonderful addition to the telling of the story of the Bell Rock lighthouse.

“We are sure the public will share our pleasure at seeing the new lens room.”

Originally the shore station for Robert Stevenson’s Bell Rock lighthouse, which lies 11 miles off the Angus coastline, the Signal Tower now acts as a beacon of local heritage, promoting education and learning, as well as illuminating visitors on the history of lighthouses and lighthouse keeping.

The Bell Rock i s t he world’s oldest surviving sea-washed lighthouse and has protected the Angus coast and its people using a number of different lighting and lens mechanisms since its completion in 1811.

Its electrification in 1964 saw it fitted with a new powerful light, surrounded by eight panels of l enses, which was originally used by the Isle of Man’s Chicken Rock lighthouse.

The lens was gifted to the Signal Tower Museum by Northern Lighthouse Board in 1988 during the automation of the lighthouse.