A sandstone headland at the eastern extremity of Fife, Fife Ness extends into the North Sea 2 miles (3 km) northeast of Crail and 9 miles (15 km) southeast of St Andrews. Fife Ness Lighthouse was established in 1975 and there is also a coastguard station. The houses once associated with this station have been sold off and now form the settlement of Fife Ness. The remains of an older village, with the same name, lie beside the fairway of an adjacent golf course. A harbour here was first mentioned in 1537 but is now ruined. It was used to ship stone from Craighead Quarry which was used to repair St. Andrews Cathedral in 1455 and in the construction of the Scots Church in Rotterdam (1643) and Cromwell's Citadel in Perth (1652). In 1813 the area became a construction yard for a light-beacon which was installed offshore on the North Carr Rock. The beacon was designed by engineer Robert Stevenson (1772 - 1850) and concentric circles carved in the rock on the shore show where the beacon was assembled. Nearby are the remains of a tide mill, dating from the 16th C. This comprises a stone-built dam which filled with water on the incoming tide and a channel with slots of sluice gates which controlled an undershot water-wheel.
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