Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

Inchkeith Lighthouse, Lighthouse Keepers Cottage, Ancillary Buildings and Boundary Walls excluding scheduled monument SM3838, Inchkeith IslandLB9707

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Date Added
03/08/1971
Last Date Amended
04/06/2018
Local Authority
Fife
Planning Authority
Fife
Parish
Kinghorn
NGR
NT 29336 82831
Coordinates
329336, 682831

Description

LIGHTHOUSE: Built by Thomas Smith, engineer; 1803-4. The lighthouse has a short, circular, painted ashlar tower with a lantern resting on a 2-storey base. The top of the lighthouse has a crenellated parapet and string course. The lighthouse has a projecting semicircular bay with an inscription which reads".... lighted on the 14th of September 1804...". The light and upper floors are reached by a wheel stair in the tower.

The lighthouse has a series of single storey ancillary buildings, one of which was used as the lighthouse keepers' cottage. The lighthouse and ancillary buildings are surrounded by rubble boundary walls which include a 50 yard stretch of wall (with loop-hole) from 16th century fort (see separate designation record: SM3838).

In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following are excluded from the listing: scheduled monument SM3838 (see separate designation record).

Statement of Special Interest

The building of the lighthouse involved removal of almost all of a fort built by the French after they captured the island from the English in 1549, and partially demolished in 1567. The lighthouse originally had 1 stationary light. In 1815 a heptagon (seven lenses revolving around a fixed burner) was installed, this revolving light was purchased by the Government of Newfoundland and installed on Cape Spear in 1835 after installation in 1834 of a dioptic lantern. In 1889 an octagon (8 lenses) and new machinery were installed. The light is now entirely automated.

In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following are excluded from the listing: scheduled monument SM3838 (see separate designation record).

Statutory Address revised in 2018. Previously listed as 'INCHKEITH ISLAND, LIGHTHOUSE AND REMAINS OF INCHKEITH FORT AND BOUNDARY WALLS'.

References

Bibliography

Grant J 1882. Old and New Edinburgh, vol. VI, pp. 290-5.

Groome F H 1896. Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland. vol IV, p. 285.

MacDonald N 1985. Islands of the Forth, p. 20.

Mylne R S 1893. The Master Masons to the Crown of Scotland and their works, plan of French fort drawn by Robert Mylne in 1778. pp. 53-4.

National Monument Record of Scotland Elevation (probably by Robert Stevenson 1824).

'The New Statistical Account of Scotland'. 15 volumes. Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons, 1845.

RCAHMS 1933. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions of Scotland. Eleventh report with inventory of monuments and constructions in the counties of Fife, Kinross, and Clackmannan. Edinburgh. pp. 174-5, No. 347

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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