Artillery Fortifications, Inchkeith

The Inchkeith lighthouse, built in 1803-4 by engineer Thomas Smith, stands on Inchkeith Island, part of the Forth Islands group, and is associated with earlier fortifications. The lighthouse itself is a short, circular tower constructed of painted ashlar, with a lantern room at the top, resting on a two-storey base. A crenellated parapet and string course top the structure. A projecting semicircular bay features an inscription commemorating the light's first illumination on 14th September 1804. Access to the light and upper floors is provided by a wheel stair within the tower. Several single-storey ancillary buildings are grouped around the lighthouse, one serving as a lighthouse keepers’ cottage. These buildings are enclosed by rubble boundary walls, which include a 50-yard section of wall with loopholes, dating back to a 16th-century fort (designated separately as SM3838).

The construction of the lighthouse involved the demolition of almost all the remains of a fort built by the French after they captured the island from the English in 1549, and partially demolished in 1567. Initially equipped with a single stationary light, the lighthouse was upgraded in 1815 with a heptagonal revolving light utilizing seven lenses. This light was later acquired by the Government of Newfoundland and installed on Cape Spear in 1835, following the 1834 installation of a dioptic lantern. Further improvements came in 1889 with the installation of an octagonal arrangement of eight lenses and new machinery. The light is now fully automated.

The listing excludes the scheduled monument SM3838 and refers to a statutory address revision made in 2018, previously known as 'INCHKEITH ISLAND, LIGHTHOUSE AND REMAINS OF INCHKEITH FORT AND BOUNDARY WALLS'.