Bell Rock Lighthouse (sea-washed reef tower)
Faro de Bell Rock (faro de mar sobre arrecife sumergible)
- Date
- 1807-1811 · confidence high
- Place
- Inchcape Reef (Bell Rock), off Arbroath, Scotland, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- Robert Stevenson, with John Rennie
- Field
- Movement
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A 35 m granite lighthouse raised on a reef covered at high tide, with workers able to labour only a few hours per tide. It is the oldest surviving sea-washed lighthouse.
Authorship was disputed: Rennie, the consultant, was credited by his supporters as designer, but execution and detail are Stevenson's.
What it led to
- lighthouses on reefs covered by the sea
- the Stevenson engineering dynasty and Scottish lighthouses
- interlocked masonry techniques in open sea