Mull of Galloway

The Mull of Galloway stands at Scotland’s southernmost point, a rounded headland of natural coastal habitat on the Rhins of Galloway peninsula in Dumfries and Galloway. It is the most southerly hill in the country and one of the last remaining stretches of wild coast along the Galloway shore. The land supports many plant and animal species and is now managed as an RSPB nature reserve. The name ‘Mull’ comes from the Gaelic for rounded headland. The Mull of Galloway Trail, one of Scotland’s Great Trails, begins here and runs for 59 kilometres to Glenapp near Ballantrae. The point is marked by an 1830 lighthouse designed by Robert Stevenson, a white-painted round tower standing 26 metres high. Its light, 99 metres above sea level, can be seen 28 nautical miles away. The lighthouse and its keepers’ houses are listed as Category A buildings. During the Second World War a French pilot in the Air Transport Auxiliary died after his aircraft struck the tower while returning from the Irish Sea. The lighthouse is now automatic, and a former outhouse has been turned into a visitor centre run by local people. Visitors reach the lighthouse through a landscape of coastal grassland and heath. A turf-roofed café called Gallie Craig was built in 2004 and offers views towards Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man. In 2013 the Mull of Galloway Trust bought land and buildings around the site, and in 2017 the restored foghorn was brought back into occasional use. The restored horn was marked by a ceremony in 2018.