The South Light on Fair Isle is a superb example of a 'Stevenson Lighthouse' - one of the many lighthouses built around mainland Scotland and the isles during the Victorian era by that prolific family of Scottish engineers.Designed and built in 1891 by David A. and Charles Stevenson (cousin of author Robert Louis Stevenson) it entered service in 1892. The tower is 85 feet tall and there are 96 steps to the top. In 1998 it became the last lighthouse in Scotland to be automated. Its foghorn - also Scotland's last - was dismantled in 2005.

  Its light is operated by the Northern Lighthouse Board and the beam, consisting of 4 flashes every 30 seconds, can be seen from at least as far as Orkney - some 25 miles away across open sea.

The much photographed and picturesque lighthouse has recently featured prominently on the cover of Blue Lightning, the latest novel by author Ann Cleeves.

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