Lighthouse, Isle Of May

Robert Stevenson, 1815-16. Square, 3-stage castellated tower forms centrepiece of substantial, symmetrical 2-storey and basement residential block; picturesque, castle-style with Tudor Gothic detail. West front and tower ashlar, remaining elevations whin rubble with ashlar dressings, long and short to side elevations, flat roofs. All elevations, 3-bay, outer advanced bays of side elevations wrap round front and rear elevations to form narrow mock turret details with tall, blind hood-moulded openings. Every bay with paired Tudor arched windows setin square architraves, some hood-moulded, some blind. Descent down central well of circular stair. Cast iron staging, tongue and grooved panelling.

Interior: Circular stair in tower with teardrop cast iron balusters and walls plastered and lined as ashlar. First floor Commissioner's Board Room has a large black marble chimneypiece with iron grate flanked by caryatid figures, back plate depicting the Birth of Aphrodite, and a fireguard with lyre motif. Pointed-headed entrance at base of tower with panelled door,set-offs to each stage and each stage with pointed windows with Y tracery to each face. Corbelled parapets throughout, those to the residential block incorporate the flues. Substantial storage block extends from centre of rear elevation with castellated turrets and square battered pylon blocks set into slope of land. Lantern, 1924 by David A Stevenson. Lattice frame to lantern; light suspended on mercury tank with French louvred crystals and lenses; rotation by clockwork mechanism, weights.