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Sumburgh Head Lighthouse Secures Heritage Lottery Funds

The lighthouse at Sumburgh Head, at the southern tip of mainland Shetland, is also to be restored.

It’s one of Scotland’s finest surviving examples of an early 19th century lighthouse and it will be put back in good order and opened up to the public with the help of a Heritage Lottery Fund grant.

Built in 1821 by Robert Stevenson, grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson, Sumburgh Head lighthouse is for many the first glimpse of the Shetland mainland as they approach by sea or air. The group of buildings includes a 1905 foghorn and one of the first British radar stations, a Chain Home Low Radar Station, which was added to the site during the Second World War. Sumburgh Head holds a fascination for visitors, making it the second most popular attraction in Shetland after the Shetland Museum and Archives in Lerwick.

A grant of £683,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund will help restore the buildings and improve access to them. The existing engine room will be refurbished and used to interpret the story of the lighthouse and the Stevenson family, while the radar huts will be opened up to tell the wartime history of the site. High-quality interpretation will explain the natural heritage of Sumburgh Head, which is an established RSPB Reserve supporting 35,000 breeding seabirds including fulmar, guillemot, kittiwake, puffin, razorbill and shag. It has dramatic views to the most remote inhabited British island, Fair lsle, and is a popular location for whale watching, with sightings of killer and minke whales, dolphins and porpoises. The West Pavilion will be developed into self-catering holiday accommodation, generating income to maintain the other buildings.

Jimmy Moncrieff, Shetland Amenity Trust General Manager, said: “This is a tremendous boost for the Sumburgh Head project, which will significantly enhance the visitor experience and the educational potential of the site.”


Sumburgh Head, topped with its lighthouse, is an iconic feature of Shetland's south mainland.

Published: 01/10/2009