The United Kingdom (officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) includes England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, the kingdom of Scotland has shared its monarch with England since 1603 and has been part of the United Kingdom since 1707. The coastline of the country is deeply cut by inlets, and there are more than 790 islands. The country has a long and distingushed maritime history; many of the most famous British captains and navigators have been Scots. Scotland was divided historically into 34 counties; the counties no longer have any administrative function although they continue to have cultural significance. Since 1996 the country has been divided into 32 council areas for the purposes of local government. This page is for lighthouses in the southeastern corner of Scotland surrounding the Firth of Forth and its approaches, including the city of the Edinburgh and the council areas of Fife, Falkirk, West Lothian, East Lothian, and Scottish Borders. The Scottish word loch is used both for lakes and for inlets of the sea; a firth is a larger bay or strait, a ness is a cape, and a mull is a rounded headland. The Scottish Gaelic phrase for a lighthouse is taigh solais; eilean is an island, sgeir is a skerry or rock, and rubha or àird is a cape or promontory. The Northern Lighthouse Board, established by an act of Parliament in 1786, manages the major lighthouses of Scotland and the Isle of Man. For five generations engineers of the Stevenson family created for the Board a network of elegant and durable lighthouses famous around the world. Most of these lighthouses remain in service today. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from Volume A of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA numbers are from Publication 114.
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Fife Lighthouses
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![]() Fife Ness Light, Craighead, March 2022 Instagram photo by Patrick Tubby for Lighthouse Accommodations |
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![]() Anstruther West Pier Light, East Neuk, April 2024 Instagram photo by nvtvlieexphotography |
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![]() North Queensferry Light and Forth Railroad Bridge, May 2023 Google Maps photo copyright Garry's Photographs |
Lighthouses South of the Firth of Forth
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![]() Granton Light, Edinburgh, June 2023 Geograph Creative Commons photo by M.J. Richardson |
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![]() West Breakwater Light, Leith, August 2018 photo copyright Heather Craven; used by permission |
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![]() Burntisland East Breakwater Light at Water of Leith, February 2019 Google Maps street view by Adrian Candela |
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Eastern Scotland | South: Northeastern England
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Posted September 9, 2004. Checked and revised August 29, 2024. Lighthouses: 44. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.