Not a lighthouse in the traditional sense, this squat building is nevertheless an important light which guides shipping around Fife Ness and warns of the North Carr rocks, which were for many years indicated by a series of lightships. Fife Ness Lighthouse was built 3 miles (5 km) northeast of Crail in 1975 and was always automated, monitored from the Northern Lighthouse Board Headquarters in Edinburgh. It was designed by Peter H. Hyslop, the Board's engineer, and comprises a rectangular building 5m (16 feet) in height, with a curved glass front which faces out to sea. Located on a rocky knoll 12m (33 feet) above sea-level, the light flashes red and white every 10 seconds and has a range of 21 miles (34 km). There is a coastguard station nearby.
Lighthouse engineer Robert Stevenson (1772 - 1850) persuaded the Northern Lighthouse Board to build a beacon to mark the North Carr rocks, which lie 1¼ miles (2 km) to the northeast. Despite considerable difficulties, a beacon was completed in 1821, but proved unsatisfactory and the first lightship took up the station in 1887 with its successors continuing until this lighthouse opened. Stevenson's beacon can still be seen from Fife Ness on the rocks in the distance.
