Overview of Duncansby Head Lighthouse

Located above the cliffs of Duncansby Head, the most northeasterly point of Caithness, Duncansby Head Lighthouse looks out over the eastern entrance to the Pentland Firth 1½ miles (2.5 km) east of John o' Groats. The lighthouse is unusual, comprising a square white battlemented tower 11m (36 feet) in height which was constructed in concrete. It was established in 1924 - relatively late in Scottish lighthouse history - by engineer David A. Stevenson (1854 - 1938). A two-storey block of keepers' cottages lies adjacent.

The first structure to be built was a temporary fog signal in 1914, to be replaced by a permanent fog horn after the First World War. In 1940, during World War II, the lighthouse was machine-gunned by a German bomber, although without injury or damage.

The light is 596,000 candlepower (7.491 million lumens) and has a range of 22 miles (35 km). The lighthouse was automated in 1997.