National Museums Scotland’s remarkable collection of objects
relating to lighthouses was mainly assembled during the second part
of the nineteenth century, for display in the Royal Museum building
on Chambers Street. At the time, the museum was known as the
Industrial Museum of Scotland, before becoming the Edinburgh Museum
of Science and Art in 1866, and the lighthouse material formed part
of a collection that celebrated contemporary advances in science
and technology.
The collection on display in the Edinburgh Museum of Science
and Art
The photograph below shows how the lighthouse collection was
displayed in the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art in 1866. Click
on an object to find out more about it and see it as it is
today.
The collection on tour
The many models in our collection were not just objects of
interest, but were used to showcase the groundbreaking engineering
achievements of the Northern Lighthouse Board and the famous
Stevenson dynasty, who built most of the lighthouses in Scotland
and to promote their work with an aim to selling their systems
overseas.
Until its eventual transfer to National Museums of Scotland in
1993, the lighthouse collection was owned by the Northern
Lighthouse Board. Therefore, before the First World War, as well as
being on display in the Museum, the collection was often shown at
international exhibitions, as a shining example of British
innovation.
The stereo photo below, made by the London Stereoscopic Company,
shows a display put on by the Northern Lighthouse Board at the 1862
International Exhibition, held in London. Click on an object in the
image to find out more about it and see it as it is today.
So important
were the exhibitions that models were often constructed
specifically for them, such as this replica of the Tay leading
light (left). This was the culmination of Thomas Stevenson’s
attempts to focus all the available light and send it in the
direction he wished, and it used every available form of
transmitting and reflecting prism.
Seen by over six million people at an exhibition in Paris in
1867, the light was also displayed at the 1876 Loan Exhibition at
South Kensington and the 1880 Naval and Marine Engineering
Exhibition at Glasgow. In between, it was shown in the Edinburgh
Museum of Science and Art, and has been on (and off) display ever
since. Currently in store, it will figure prominently in the newly
refurbished National Museum of Scotland.
The collection today
A selection of objects from our lighthouse collection are on
permanent display in the Industry and Empire gallery, which
highlights the way in which industry carried the name of Scotland
across the globe during the Victorian era.
The Shining Lights exhibition gives us the opportunity to
display a much larger selection of lighthouse material from our
collection, with objects that have been in our possession for a
century and a half ranged alongside more recent acquisitions.
Like the exhibition displays of the 19th century, Shining Lights
aims to showcase the ingenuity of lighthouse design and
groundbreaking engineering achievements taking place in Scotland at
that time. Prepare to be dazzled.