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OPENING TIMES & ADMISSION CHARGES
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SHOP
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WHAT'S NEW AT THE LIGHTHOUSE
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UP AND COMING EVENTS
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OUR HISTORY & HERITAGE
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1635
Isle of May Lighthouse conceived
1786
Creation of a Northern Lighthouse Trust
1787
Alterations to Kinnaird Head Lantern completed
1807 - 1811
Robert Stevenson completes the construction of the Bell Rock
1814
Voyage of Walter Scott and Robert Stevenson around Scotland
      1635 - 1814       1815 - 1868       1853 - 1998

History Timeline

The history of lighthouses in Scotland really starts with a small tower on the Island of May. A tower had existed there from the seventeenth century and had been used to warn mariners by burning braziers from its top. On mainland Scotland the tower at Kinnaird Head was the very first to be converted from a castle tower. It is the oldest remaining lighthouse in mainland Scotland.