Located at Skadan (or Skaddan) in the southwest of the remote island of Fair Isle (Shetland), the Fair Isle South Lighthouse was the work of David A. Stevenson (1854 - 1938) and Charles Stevenson (1855 - 1950), and first illuminated in 1892. The tower is the tallest in Shetland at 25.9m (85 feet). Powered by diesel generators, the light has a range of 25 miles (40 km) and is visible in Orkney. The lighthouse was subject to German bombing on two occasions during World War II; the first attack killed the wife of an Assistant Keeper while the second killed the wife and daughter of the Principal Keeper, and a soldier, as well as destroying the lighthouse keepers' cottages.
This was the last lighthouse in Scotland to be automated and a ceremony held here in March 1998 to mark the end of the era of manned lights was attended by HRH The Princess Royal, who unveiled a plaque. The light is now remotely monitored from the Northern Lighthouse Board Headquarters in Edinburgh. Its foghorn - one of Scotland's last - was dismantled in 2005. The accommodation blocks, rebuilt after their wartime destruction, now provide bed and breakfast for visitors. A helipad and the island's football pitch lie adjacent.