North Ronaldsay, Dennis Head Beacon Cross and Burness, Scotland

Text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.

Scheduled Ancient Monument, No 6596. One of the first four lighthouse to be built in Scotland. Thomas Smith was commissioned by the Northern Lighthouse Board together with the English lighthouse designer, Ezekiel Walker, to build a lighthouse to illuminate the dangerous waters at the northernmost tip of Orkney. The masons, John White and James Sinclair, constructed the 70ft tower from undressed local stone. The cost of the light was estimated at ?199 12s 6d and was first lit on 10th October, 1789. The lighting system was advanced, being the catrophic, or reflecting system, consisting of a number of oil-burning lamps surrounded by copper reflectors covered in facets of mirror glass to magnify the light. This fixed light survived until 1809 when the commissioners realised that the choice of position was somewhat unfortunate. The light proved to be too low to be seen by ships coming from the west and the south and was often mistaken for a ship's light. As a consequence, it was decided to transfer the lighthouse to a higher elevation at Start Point on the island of Sanday. The original cast-iron lantern with its copper-sheathed cupola was replaced by the huge ashlar ball finial which had previously topped the Sanday beacon.