Originally known as the Northern Lighthouse Board Engineering, Storage and Testing Facility, it was formerly used by the Northern Lighthouse Board to store and distribute supplies, test and service equipment, and train employees.

The land on which the depot was built was leased from Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch in 1852.

[4][8] In 1869, the engineer John Richardson Wigham was invited to demonstrate an experimental gas lighting technique at the depot.

[4][10] During the Second World War, one of the glass panes of the lighthouse's lantern purportedly sustained a bullet hole from a Luftwaffe machine gun.

[12] The Northern Lighthouse Board continued to use the depot until November 2001, when it relocated its operations to Oban.