Kinnaird Head lighthouses

Kinnaird Head stands on a rocky promontory in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire. Two lighthouses occupy the site: the original 18th-century tower built inside a converted castle, and a modern automatic light added in 1991. The older tower now houses the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses. The museum displays equipment used for lighting, navigation and signalling, along with personal items belonging to former keepers. Archival records and photographs document the Northern Lighthouse Board’s work at Kinnaird Head. In 2007 the Scottish Government recognised the entire collection as nationally significant.

The first light was established by Thomas Smith on 1 December 1787. It used whale-oil lamps and 17 parabolic reflectors arranged in three tiers. The beam reached 12 to 14 miles and was the most powerful of its time. James Park served as the first keeper, earning a shilling per night. In 1824 Robert Stevenson built a new tower through the castle wall. Alan Stevenson installed a first-order dioptric lens in 1851, and in 1902 David Alan Stevenson added a flashing hyperradiant Fresnel lens visible for 25–27 miles.

Visitors walk through the old castle keep to the lantern room 37 metres above the sea. The museum occupies several rooms where technical exhibits sit alongside keeper’s uniforms and model ships. Outside, the 1903 foghorn still stands beside the modern light tower. Anniversary events have relit the original beam for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the lighthouse’s 225th birthday. The lantern room offers views across the Moray Firth to the surrounding coastline.