FERIEPARADISET MOT STORHAVET Sula - Frøya Kommune - Midt-Norge T: +47 938 25 218 E: firmapost@sularorbuer.no
Lighthouse on Sula
As early as 1793, a beacon was built on Sula to serve as a lighthouse and daymark. It was 12 alen (7,5 m) (alen = 2 feet) high and 9 alen (5,5 m) in diameter and consisted of a circular stone structure filled with turf. The top had a hollow but a fire grate was never mounted. The tower was to have been kept whitewashed but after a few years it fell down due to effect of ice. Around 1805 a new tower was built immediately north of the old one, only this time in solid stone. 12 ½ alen high and 10 ½ - 8 alen in diameter. The tower had steps and the possibility to mount a fire grate, but again one was never mounted. The tower (beacon) was first whitewashed and then painted black. Both towers were built by the brothers Johan Petter and Petter Andreas Kock, with state funds. The first working lighthouse came in 1909. This consisted of a 13-metre high masonry tower with a cylindrical lighthouse on top. A second order flashing lantern was installed 43 metres above sea-level. Accommodation for the lighthouse keeper and two assistants was built on the slope east of the lighthouse. The lighthouse became automated and unmanned in 1974.
The Titran disaster
In around 1898, drift-net herring fishing started off Titran and Sula. The fishing took place at night during autumn and winter, mainly in open boats. As yet there was no lights on Sula. To help the boats find land, a lantern was mounted on Sulshaugen and one on Kaldholmen further west at Gullskitleia, the main channel up to Sula. It was freezing work keeping the lanterns lit and usually the task of the old men. They were on duty when the disaster struck, on the night of 14th October 1899 when 140 fishermen perished west of Titran and Sula. Of the boats that left Sula that day, all but one (from Mausund) was washed ashore.
As early as 1793, a beacon was built on Sula to serve as a lighthouse and daymark. It was 12 alen (7,5 m) (alen = 2 feet) high and 9 alen (5,5 m) in diameter and consisted of a circular stone structure filled with turf. The top had a hollow but a fire grate was never mounted. The tower was to have been kept whitewashed but after a few years it fell down due to effect of ice. Around 1805 a new tower was built immediately north of the old one, only this time in solid stone. 12 ½ alen high and 10 ½ - 8 alen in diameter. The tower had steps and the possibility to mount a fire grate, but again one was never mounted. The tower (beacon) was first whitewashed and then painted black. Both towers were built by the brothers Johan Petter and Petter Andreas Kock, with state funds. The first working lighthouse came in 1909. This consisted of a 13-metre high masonry tower with a cylindrical lighthouse on top. A second order flashing lantern was installed 43 metres above sea-level. Accommodation for the lighthouse keeper and two assistants was built on the slope east of the lighthouse. The lighthouse became automated and unmanned in 1974.
The Titran disaster
In around 1898, drift-net herring fishing started off Titran and Sula. The fishing took place at night during autumn and winter, mainly in open boats. As yet there was no lights on Sula. To help the boats find land, a lantern was mounted on Sulshaugen and one on Kaldholmen further west at Gullskitleia, the main channel up to Sula. It was freezing work keeping the lanterns lit and usually the task of the old men. They were on duty when the disaster struck, on the night of 14th October 1899 when 140 fishermen perished west of Titran and Sula. Of the boats that left Sula that day, all but one (from Mausund) was washed ashore.
