Robert Stevenson and the building of Bell Rock Lighthouse

Where is Bell Rock Lighthouse?

Bell Rock Lighthouse stands on the Inchcape reef in the North Sea, a treacherous strip of red sandstone only visible at low tide. Located around 18km from the coastal town of Arbroath, the reef poses a major hazard to vessels making their way to and from the Firths of Forth and Tay.

Before the lighthouse was built, thousands lost their lives because of the reef. It may have gained the name 'Bell Rock' from a legend about a monk placing a bell on the site to act as a warning to sailors. The bell was said to be removed by a pirate who later died in a shipwreck himself. The tale was popularised in a poem by Robert Southey in 1802.

"The Abbot of Aberbrothok
Had placed that bell on the Inchcape Rock;
On a buoy in the storm it floated and swung,
And over the waves its warning rung.

When the Rock was hid by the surge’s swell,
The Mariners heard the warning Bell;
And then they knew the perilous Rock,
And blest the Abbot of Aberbrothok."
Extract from 'Inchcape Rock' by Robert Southey, first published 1802

In 1793, Royal Navy Officer Sir Alexander Cochrane described Bell Rock's location as "the most dangerous situation possible". While stationed on the east coast of Scotland, Cochrane wrote to the recently formed body responsible for the waters around Scotland, the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses. His letter highlighted the "peril that the trade of the East of Scotland is subject to for want of a lighthouse being erected on the Bell or Cape Rock".

Despite Cochrane's letter and similar pleas, action was slow. After all, constructing a tower tall enough to be seen at a distance, robust enough to weather violent storms, on a rock submerged twice-daily under several metres of water, was thought by many to be an impossible task. But when civil engineer Robert Stevenson visited the rock, he was convinced a lighthouse could be built there.

Who was Robert Stevenson?

Robert Stevenson was born in Glasgow in 1772. The first Stevenson in a business established by his stepfather and father-in-law, Thomas Smith, he made his name with the construction of the lighthouse on Bell Rock.

In addition to making a major contribution to lighthouse engineering, Stevenson was involved in canal, road and railway projects. He built the Regent Bridge over Calton Hill in Edinburgh and Stirling New Bridge over the River Forth. Three of Stevenson's sons, two of his grandsons, and one of his great grandsons also became engineers. Between them, four generations of Stevenson engineers designed, surveyed or built many of the lighthouses around the coast of Scotland and the Isle of Man. They also contributed to lighthouse developments further afield, including in Japan and New Zealand, as well as contributing to harbours, docks, roads and bridges.

Robert Stevenson was also the grandfather of writer Robert Louis Stevenson. Famous for adventure novels like 'Treasure Island' and 'Kidnapped', Robert Louis wrote a book about his own family history and their achievements, 'Records of a family of engineers'. The younger Stevenson wrote of his grandfather, "he was above all a projector of works in the face of nature, and a modifier of nature itself".

Building Bell Rock Lighthouse

In 1799, the Royal Navy ship HMS York struck Bell Rock and foundered. All 491 crew were lost. The tragedy increased calls for action, and after a second visit to Bell Rock in 1800, Stevenson began to develop plans for a stone lighthouse. 

High costs and Stevenson's relative inexperience as an engineer were still an issue. However, after the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses sought advice from eminent engineer, John Rennie, the plans were finally accepted by Parliament in 1806. The Commissioners appointed Rennie as chief engineer, with Stevenson as resident engineer.

The design for Bell Rock Lighthouse was heavily influenced by the Eddystone Lighthouse off the coast of Cornwall. The design for Eddystone had been inspired by the trunk of an oak tree, with a wide, heavy base supporting the tall structure above.

Construction of Bell Rock Lighthouse began in 1807, but progress was slow. Conditions were challenging, often dangerous. Because of the weather and sea conditions, work could only take place in the summer months, and (until the foundations were completed and the lower courses laid) only for two hours at each low tide.

The first season involved digging the foundations for the lighthouse, as well as erecting a forge for blacksmithing on site and a temporary beacon. This was later converted to a 'beacon-house', an enclosed structure where mortar could be mixed and Stevenson and construction workers could live. Sitting atop legs that raised it above the sea, the beacon-house was connected to the lighthouse site by a bridge.

Once the lighthouse foundations were in place and the lower courses laid, workers could walk across the bridge to access the building site even if the rock was submerged. Then came the challenge of delivering, moving and positioning thousands of stones, some weighing up to a tonne.

Cranes, ships and carts

Bell Rock Lighthouse is built from 2,800 blocks of sandstone and granite. After being quarried at Mylnefield, near Dundee, and Rubislaw, near Aberdeen, each stone was cut to shape at the work yard in Arbroath and hauled to the supply vessel by a cart drawn by a single horse, known as 'Bassey'.

"This animal must actually have drawn the materials of the Light-house, extending to upwards of 2000 tons in its finished state, perhaps three or four times, in removing the blocks of stone from the ship to the work-yard, again to the platform, and from the work-yard, when they were to be shipped for the Rock."
Robert Stevenson in 'An Account of the Bell Rock Light-House', 1824

'The Smeaton' supply vessel couldn't land directly on Bell Rock, so stones and other building materials were ferried across the final stretch of water on small boats. Cranes were built to lift materials from these boats. They were then transported by a cast iron rail track from the landing point to the building site.

Each stone was positioned in place using another crane and 'dovetailed' with the others. Dovetailing is a building technique where components are joined to one another like jigsaw pieces. An inverted wedge protruding from one stone slips into a corresponding hole in another. Hooking stones together in this way locked each securely into place.

To create an even more secure structure, oak pins known as trenails were inserted into holes bored in the stones. As the trenails were hammered into place, wedges at the ends of each forced them to expand and anchor each layer of stones to the one below. The combination of dovetailing and trenail fastenings gave the structure the strength and stability it needed to withstand the daily rise and fall of the tide and the most tempestuous North Sea conditions.

First light from Bell Rock Lighthouse

It took four years to complete Bell Rock Lighthouse. The finished building stood (and still stands) 36 metres tall. It is 13 metres wide at the base and 4.5 metres wide at the top.

The first 9 metres or so is solid dovetailed masonry. Above that sits the entranceway and stairs, which lead to the lightroom. Large enough to house three lighthouse keepers, Bell Rock Lighthouse had a kitchen on the third storey, a bedroom on the fourth and a library on the fifth.

On 1 February 1811, Bell Rock Lighthouse was lit for the first time. Its warning light came from 24 oil lamps, each positioned in front of its own dish-shaped mirror. Made from copper coated with silver, these 'parabolic reflectors' were arranged in the shape of a rectangle. The reflectors on the shortest sides were covered in red glass. As the whole structure revolved, Bell Rock gave out an instantly recognisable signal of alternating red and white lights.

In 1814, Bell Rock's 'ruddy' glow was referenced in a poem by Scottish novelist Walter Scott. Scott visited Bell Rock Lighthouse as a guest of the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses. Before he left, he wrote these lines in the Lighthouse visitor book:

"Far in the bosom of the deep
O’er these wild shelves my watch I keep
A ruddy gem of changeful light,
Bound on the dusky brow of Night
The Seaman bids my lustre hail
And scorns to strike his tim'rous sail"
'The Pharos Loquitur', Walter Scott, 1814

Bell Rock Lighthouse today

It's testament to Stevenson's engineering skill as resident engineer that Bell Rock Lighthouse remains intact and unaltered since construction finished in 1810. The structure has survived storms, a fire, and World War II machine-gun fire and a bomb. 

Though the lights have been updated and the interior modernised, Bell Rock Lighthouse is much as it was when it was built. Automated in 1988, and now monitored remotely from Edinburgh, the world's oldest standing rock lighthouse continues to warn shipping of the Inchcape reef's razor-sharp rocks.

Consult our collections

Whether you're tracing the evolution of civil engineering, exploring the Stevenson legacy, or simply captivated by the drama of building a lighthouse on a submerged reef, our holdings provide a tangible connection to this remarkable chapter in Scotland’s history.

The Stevenson civil engineering archive includes original drawings, correspondence, journals, and printed reports relating to the Stevenson family firm. Among these are materials documenting the planning and building of Bell Rock itself. We also hold the library of books collected by the Stevensons during their work, and many other books about lighthouses and civil engineering. All of this can be consulted in person at our reading rooms in Edinburgh.

For more information about the Stevenson family, how to search the archive, and digitised maps and plans, visit Stevenson Maps and Plans of Scotland, 1660-1940. To arrange a visit or learn more about accessing these archives, explore our catalogue or get in touch.