It is located at the end of Noss Head, a peninsula on the north-west coast of Caithness that overlooks Sinclairs Bay, three miles north-east of Wick.

[1] Adjacent to the tower are a pair of keeper's cottages and subsidiary buildings, bounded by a walled compound.

Considered to be both stronger, and less likely to interrupt the light from the optic, the design was employed as the standard for all future lighthouses built by the Board.

[1] As a way to provide work for those local people who had been affected by the Highland potato famine, and needed Poor Relief, labourers were hired at a rate of 3s/6d per day (£21 as of 2025)[4] to construct an access road from Wick to the lighthouse.

Permission was gladly given and Mr Stewart MSP visited Noss Head Lighthouse Station to inspect the works that had been completed.

[2][1] The light and tower is maintained by the Northern Lighthouse Board, and is registered under the international Admiralty number A3544 and has the NGA identifier of 114-3012.

[12] The heroine, a 17-year-old Parisienne called Hannah, is staying with her Scottish grandmother in Wick when she falls for the mysteriously handsome Leith Sutherland.