The Northern Lighthouse Board awarded the design-and-build contract to John Rennie. Robert Stevenson, his chief assistant, designed and built it, and the article notes the dispute over credit. It is based on John Smeaton's Eddystone Lighthouse. The loss of HMS York in 1804 and many shipwrecks prompted the project. Work ran from 1807 to 1810, and the first light shone on February 1, 1811.
It is a tapered cylindrical tower, 115 feet (35 m) high according to the text. It is built of Cairngall granite in interlocking stones. A beacon house on wooden struts served as a temporary base. The final cost was about 50 percent over the £42,000 estimate.
It stands about 11 miles (18 km) east of the Firth of Tay. It was automated on October 24, 1988, and the Board still operates it.
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