Dennis_Head_Old_Beacon

Dennis Head Old Beacon

Dennis Head Old Beacon

Lighthouse

Dennis Head Old Beacon is a ruined lighthouse on the island of North Ronaldsay, Orkney, Scotland. The beacon and keepers' houses are protected as a scheduled monument.[1]

Quick Facts Location, OS grid ...

The 70-foot (21 m) tower was completed in 1789 under the supervision of Thomas Smith assisted by his stepson Robert Stevenson. It was to be the first of many island lighthouses for Smith (he had previously worked on the lights at Kinnaird Head and Mull of Kintyre). Its lighting system, although advanced for its time, consisting of a cluster of oil-burning lamps and reflectors was not very effective, often being mistaken for the mast-head of another ship by mariners.

In 1809, with the construction of other nearby lighthouses, it was decided that the North Ronaldsay light was no longer required, and it was extinguished. The round stone tower was retained as a sea-mark, however, and the original beacon chamber at the top replaced by a vaulted roof, capped by a remarkable ball finial. The stone spiral staircase which once led to the beacon was demolished. The original keepers' houses, roofless but largely complete, survive below the tower.

The Old Beacon featured on the 2006 BBC television series Restoration Village finishing in third place.

North Ronaldsay Lighthouse was built nearby in 1854.

References

  1. [1]
    Historic Environment Scotland. "Dennis Head, Old Beacon, North Ronaldsay (SM6596)". Retrieved 22 February 2019.
Stub icon

This British lighthouse-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Dennis_Head_Old_Beacon, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.