Scotland’s iconic lighthouses | The West Australian

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Scotland’s iconic lighthouses | The West ***********

There are around 200 lighthouses on the coast of Scotland and I’d say we’ve spotted more than a dozen of them on this cruise, which has taken us from the relatively sedate waters of the Firth of Clyde outside Glasgow to the boisterous waves of the North Atlantic a few hundred kilometres away.

For sailors, lighthouses have long been a godsend (the first recorded one, the Pharos of Alexandria, was built around 280BC, although the ancient Greek poet Homer made reference to a lighthouse in his epic poem The Iliad several centuries before).

Despite the onset of GPS and other electronic navigational aids, many modern-day mariners still rely on these lofty beacons to help guide them safely to shore while alerting them to potential hazards, from perilous shallows to rocky coastlines and outcrops that have wrecked many a vessel.

Scotland’s first lighthouse was constructed in the 17th century, but the majority standing today were built in the 1800s by four generations of one family, the Stevensons, and remain under the care of the Northern Lighthouse Board.

We visit one special lighthouse during an excursion on the Shetland Islands. Designed by Robert Stevenson — the grandfather of author Robert Louis Stevenson — Sumburgh Head Lighthouse is perched 91 metres above sea level on the site of a former Iron Age fort at the most southerly point of mainland Shetland.

Camera IconSumburgh Head Lighthouse has a dramatic setting on the Shetland mainland. Credit: Steve McKenna

It’s a brilliant and breezy setting, towering above a nature reserve, the surrounding cliffs teeming with seabirds like puffins and fulmars in the warmer breeding months, while whales and dolphins are occasionally sighted in the waters below. In clear weather you may be able to make out Fair Isle, the most southerly Shetland isle, 38km away. That has two Stevenson-built lighthouses, including what was the last manned one left in Scotland, with the last lightkeeper leaving there in 1998. Seven years earlier, Sumburgh Head lighthouse was fully automated and the cottages where the lightkeepers once lived have now been converted into tourist lodgings.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera IconSumburgh Head Lighthouse has a dramatic setting on the Shetland mainland. Credit: Steve McKenna

Even if you’re out of luck with the wildlife or the visibility, Sumburgh Head has a fascinating visitor centre that charts the history and evolution of this lighthouse, whose beam can be seen up to 45km away. As well as information panels and old photographs, you can peruse the shiny old diesel engines that powered the lighthouse foghorn, which comes in handy during spells of thick fog, their formidable sound carrying for almost 15km. I also read an interesting section about World War II, and how a military radar station on Sumburgh Head helped save the British naval fleet from a surprise ******* air raid in 1940. Being the most northerly archipelago in the ******* Kingdom, the Shetlands not surprisingly also boast the most northerly lighthouse: that of Muckle Flugga, established in 1854 near Unst, one of the most northerly Shetland isles.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera IconThe former lightkeepers’ cottage of the Rubha nan Gall lighthouse on the Isle of Mull. Credit: Steve McKenna

We don’t get that far, but heading back south on the penultimate day of our cruise, we do get a close-up of another wonderfully named lighthouse, Rubha nan Gall, on the Isle of Mull. Walking along a shaded 2km woodland trail from the pretty port village of Tobermory brings us to this delightfully located lighthouse, which means “Stranger’s Point” in Scottish Gaelic. Built in 1857 by David and Thomas Stevenson on an islet just above sea level, it’s linked by a bridge path to the former keepers’ cottages: one is a private home, the other has been turned into self-catering accommodation, sleeping up to six people and affording glorious views towards the lighthouse, with the promise of dreamy sunrises and sunsets to boot. We walk back along the path to our ship in Tobermory. Later tonight, on our journey back towards Glasgow, we will pass more than a dozen other lighthouses. We won’t see most of them — we’ll be asleep — but it’s nice to think of these hardy old beacons twinkling away.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera IconRubha nan Gall lighthouse on the Isle of Mull. Credit: Steve McKenna

+ Steve McKenna was a guest of Ponant. They have not influenced or seen this story.

fact file

+ Ponant has Scottish isle cruises, departing Glasgow in May 2025, costing from around $7000 per person. Fares include wining and dining, excursions and expeditions and wi-fi among other perks. See

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+ For more information on the lighthouses of Scotland, see

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+ To help plan a trip to Scotland, see

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data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera IconKeep your eyes peeled for birds, whales and dolphins from the clifftops of Sumburgh Head. Credit: Steve McKenna

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