Bell Rock Lighthouse

[4] It was built between 1807 and 1810 by Robert Stevenson on the Bell Rock (also known as Inchcape) in the North Sea, 11 miles (18 km) east of the Firth of Tay.

The lighthouse previously operated in tandem with a shore station, the Bell Rock Signal Tower, built in 1813 at the mouth of Arbroath harbour.

Today this building houses the Signal Tower Museum, a visitor centre that offers a detailed history of the lighthouse.

In 1799, the Masters of Trinity House in Leith (who oversaw most of the shipping issues on the eastern coast) determined to build a light on the Bell Rock, due to the high numbers of losses.

[8] However, after the warship HMS York was wrecked on the rock in 1804 (and all aboard perished)—causing a furore in Parliament—Stevenson sent his design to the renowned engineer John Rennie.

[12] But the Bell Rock lighthouse also contained several newer features, such as the rotating lights alternating between red and white that were designed by the carpenter Francis Watt.

In September 1808 John Bonnyman, a stonemason, had to have a finger amputated following an accident with the beam crane on the Rock; as recompense for this mishap he was later appointed one of the first lighthouse keepers.

As a strategy to ward off further visits, he wrote Rennie a total of 82 letters, asking detailed questions about a large range of construction issues (including what type of window putty and locks to use).

In June 1809 one of the principal builders, Michael Wishart, was caught beneath a crane when it collapsed, and his feet were severely injured, preventing him from working further on the project.

[22] Since the construction of the lighthouse the only recorded shipwrecks have been that of HMS Argyll during wartime blackouts in 1915 and the Banff-registered cargo vessel Rosecraig that ran aground in fog on the evening of 21 September 1908, and sank.

On 28 October 1915 while in view of the lighthouse, HMS Argyll under the command of Captain James Tancred sent a signal requesting the light to be turned on.

Typically attempted by amateur sailors in cruising yachts and running through the night, the "Bell Rock" would be the longest and toughest race of the year at club level.

[25][26] Scottish musician Alastair McDonald re-worded a traditional song called The Mermaid's Tale, and set the scene on Bell Rock instead of the Eddystone light.

The first verse runs: Arbroath musician Ian Lamb also slightly reworked the melody for the traditional song "Come All Ye Tramps and Hawkers" and wrote "The Bell Rock Light" to mark the lighthouse's bicentenary in 2011.

Engraving of the lighthouse under construction in 1809, next to the temporary beacon that was constructed alongside it to accommodate the workers and serve as a temporary lighthouse.
Watercolour of the lighthouse by J. M. W. Turner (1819), Scottish National Gallery [ 18 ]