St Abbs Head Lighthouse, a beautiful place in Scotland with spectacular cliffs

In the southwest of Scotland, very close to England, there is a beautiful coastline with large cliffs and a small white lighthouse.

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The first navigational signal station was installed at this location in the first quarter of the 19th century. This station was insufficient to prevent the sinking of the steam sloop Martello on Carr Rocks in the Firth of Forth on 28 November 1857, on a night of bad weather and poor visibility, an accident in which, fortunately, the crew and passengers managed to save their lives.

Following the accident, the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB), the authority responsible for managing maritime lighthouses in Scotland and the Isle of Man, recommended the construction of a lighthouse high on the cliffs of St Abbs Head. According to the NLB, the lighthouse was built by engineers David and Thomas Stevenson and the light was first lit on 24 February 1862. "The original oil burning light was converted to incandescent in 1906 and to electric operation in 1966."

In 1876 the lighthouse was fitted with a foghorn, the first one installed in Scotland. It was in service until 1987 and is still in use today. A radio beacon was also added to the lighthouse's services in 1961. The cliffs at St Abbs Head reach a maximum height of 91 metres. The lighthouse is at an altitude of 68 metres and its small tower is only 9 metres high, an atypical design due to the great height at which it was built.

This lighthouse has a curious shape. It is located at the end of a flight of stairs that descend from the lighthouse keeper's house. This lighthouse was automated in 1993 and part of the lighthouse keeper's house has been sold. Its light is white, has a range of 18 nautical miles and flashes every 10 seconds. Its coordinates are 55°54.979'N 002°08.286'W. This Monday, Borders Drone Seekers published a nice video of this lighthouse and its surroundings, recorded with a drone:

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Main image: Borders Drone Seekers.