Flannan Isles property linked to 125-year-old lighthouse mystery to be restored
Building will be converted into holiday lets, community space, office, and exhibition area
A historic building linked to one of Scotland’s most enduring maritime mysteries is to be restored after planning permission was granted by Western Isles Council.
The council has approved proposals by Urras an Tighe Mhòir (UTM) to convert An Taigh Mòr, the former station and dwelling house for the Flannan Isles lighthouse keepers at Breasclete, into a community hub with holiday lets.
The Grade B listed building will house community space, office, and exhibition areas on the ground floor, with two holiday let units on the first floor. An adjacent outbuilding, known as the Bothy, will be converted into a third holiday let.
The approval comes as the community prepares to mark the 125th anniversary of the tragedy, and documents submitted as part of the planning application state that on 15 December 1900, keepers Thomas Marshall, Donald MacArthur, and James Ducat vanished from the lighthouse on Eilean Mòr.
The last entry on the station slate that morning recorded routine duties completed; by midnight, when the steamer ‘Archtor’ passed en route from Philadelphia, no light was visible. What happened in between remains unknown.
David Alan Stevenson designed the building in 1896. He was part of the renowned Stevenson lighthouse engineering dynasty and worked in partnership with his brother Charles Alexander as D & C Stevenson. Construction was completed in 1899. In 1900, he designed a new store at the corner of the boundary walls, which forms the basis of the current Bothy at the site.
According to the Design & Access Statement for the planning application, the building is “symmetrical, constructed of local gneiss rubble with red sandstone dressings.”
Originally containing four apartments — two on each floor — it was significantly altered in the late 1970s and early 1980s with the addition of third apartments at both levels, changes which, according to the application, contributed to the deterioration of the fabric of the building.
Surveys have found the building to be “roundly water-saturated”, a condition exacerbated by what the design team described as “inappropriate attempts to achieve quick fixes.”
UTM states in its application that it has undertaken community consultation on the development works since 2020.
Now, the ground floor will be dedicated to community activities, including space for interpretation of the lighthouse tragedy and local culture and history, along with library and archive facilities.
The trust originally received planning permission in 2022 for a scheme that included a two-storey contemporary extension. But some residents raised concerns about its scale, and following further consultation, the extension was dropped. The revised plans reconfigure the existing building to accommodate all requirements, including a lift for full accessibility to the first floor.
The approved scheme will restore two residential units to the first floor, removing a third unit that was a later addition. A new community entrance on the northwest side has been positioned to create “a visual connection: to the harbour and the route the lighthouse keepers would have taken on their return home — a detail the architects described as significant in “telling the story” of the building’s history.
New outbuildings along the boundary wall will house plant rooms, laundry, and storage. The design statement notes that the outbuildings should “remain subservient” to the main listed building, following the approach of the original Bothy, which was built into the boundary wall in 1900.
The approval includes listed building consent, with conditions requiring detailed submissions before work can proceed, including specifications for lime re-harling, replacement windows, rainwater goods, a new entrance canopy, and interior restoration of historic features such as fireplaces and plaster cornicing.
A design team led by LDN Architects was appointed in October 2020 to develop the project.
Planners said the proposals would “restore and sympathetically adapt the listed building for beneficial re-use.” Given its deteriorating condition, the plans were “particularly welcome.”
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