click on picture to enlarge Picture is from the Scottish Lighthouse Museum.

The Pentland Skerries is a small group of islets, stacks and reefs located in the Pentland Firth that separates the Scottish mainland from Orkney. The islets consist of Muckle Skerry and a long shoal running northeast from Little Skerry to Clettack Skerry. Muckle Skerry has three tiny lochans and a table-shaped northern promontory called "Tennis Court." To make it possible for ships to avoid the long route of sailing around the islands of Orkney two lighthouses were built in 1794 on Muckle Skerry. The engineers for the lighthouses were Thomas Smith and Robert Stevenson. One tower was 79 feet tall while the other was 59 feet tall. The lighthouse was automated in 1994 and the keepers removed.

You can find more articles in the archive under Lighthouse Beacons From Scotland.