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Cloch or Cloch Point (Scottish Gaelic: stone) is a point on the coast of the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. There has been a lighthouse since 1797 to warn ships off The Gantocks. Cloch Point lies on the A770, north of Inverkip, three miles south-west of Gourock, on the east shore of the Firth of Clyde, directly opposite Dunoon. The Cloch Lighthouse was designed by Thomas Smith and his son-in-law Robert Stevenson. The building was completed in 1797. There appear to be two generations of keepers' houses, the older now used as stores and the more recent having crow-stepped gables. The short circular-section tower has a corbelled walkway and triangular windows. The foghorns were added between 1895 and 1897.
The light was built by John Clarkson (engineer); Kermack and Gall built the tower, while Smith and Stevenson installed the oil lantern which was first lit on 11 August 1797.The light was replaced in 1829 with an argand lamp and silvered reflector. About 1900, it was lit with acetylene. A radio beacon was installed about 1931. The dioptric and catadioptric lenses floated in baths of mercury and were rotated by a clockwork mechanism powered by falling weights.As well as tending the light, the keepers had to wind the mechanism by hand every two to three hours.Today, the light is fully automated and unmanned. The main light has been replaced by a light on a pole outside the lantern room.
The light at the 'Clogh' was built in 1795-7 by John Clarkson (engineer); Kermack and Gall built the tower while Smith and Stevenson installed the (oil) lantern which was first lit on 11 August 1797. The light was 'completely renewed' in 1829 when an argand light and silvered reflector were installed. Two whistles with differently-pitched notes were installed after 1865; the light was experimentally lit with acetylene about 1900 and a radio 'talikng beacon' installed about 1931.
This lighthouse is situated low down on the E shore of the Firth of Clyde and a short distance SW of Cloch Point [name: NS 205 760], where ships turn eastward into the inner firth.