Bell Rock Lighthouse: An Illustrated History

The Bell Rock Lighthouse has stood as an industrial “wonder of the world’ since its completion in 1811. The iconic tower on the Inchcape Rock, twelve miles from Arbroath, is the oldest sea-washed tower in the world having been lashed by the seas for over 200 years. Her earlier cousins were all taken by the waves or replaced. The construction of the Bell Rock not only proved the Northern Lighthouse Board had reached maturity, but it made the name of the Stevenson family of lighthouse engineers: a dynasty that dominated Scottish lighthouses for 150 years. Robert Stevenson was the first man on the reef and the last man off, a personal commitment which has seen the Bell Rock’s actual Chief Engineer - John Rennie - almost deleted from the station’s history. Not only was it a remarkable feat of engineering, but one which played host to a remarkable way of life. The light-keepers undertook their nightly vigils at the station for 177 years, their often mundane and monotonous duties occasionally being punctuated by technological improvement and world events. The keepers are now all gone, but the Bell Rock continues to show its familiar flash, guiding the mariner to safety.