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Carraig Fhada lighthouse on its rocky point under a dark sky.
Argyll and Bute

Carraig Fhada Lighthouse

Scotland's only square lighthouse, built in 1832 at Kilnaughton Bay by the Laird of Islay in memory of his wife.

Welcome

Carraig Fhada is a square white lighthouse on a rocky point at Kilnaughton Bay, on the western approach to Port Ellen on Islay, and it is thought to be the only square lighthouse in Scotland.

Walter Frederick Campbell, the Laird of Islay, built it in 1832 in memory of his wife, Lady Ellinor, who died that year aged thirty-six; Port Ellen, the town he founded across the bay, is named after her too.

Designed by David Hamilton and Son, it is a three-storey tower on an L-plan, 17 metres high, with a stair tower at one corner and no lantern room, and the ferry from Kennacraig sails right past it on the way into Port Ellen. A path leads from the shore along the headland to its foot, though it can flood at high tide, and another follows the coast round to the Singing Sands, a sheltered beach where the sand makes strange sounds underfoot. The keeper's cottage is now a private home.

Round the cornerThe Singing SandsA small sheltered beach near Port Ellen, by Carraig Fhada lighthouse, whose sand is said to sing underfoot.1 min by roadSee itThe Singing Sands, a curve of pale sand below a brown headland, waves washing in.
Before you go

The lighthouse is at Kilnaughton Bay, about a mile west of Port Ellen.

A trail runs from the shore to its base but can flood at high tide. It is not open inside.

Where
Kilnaughton Bay, west of Port Ellen, Islay.
Path
Can flood at high tide.
Where it is

Kilnaughton Bay, Port Ellen, Islay.

Close byOn Islay.
  1. White cottages line a clifftop row with a lighthouse in the distanceIsle of Islay (pronounced Eye-la)The most southerly of the Hebrides, famous for its whisky, with white villages, great beaches and the Lords of the Isles.2 miles 8 min by road
  2. Port EllenPort EllenA white ferry village in the south of Islay, founded in 1821, with three famous distilleries along the road east.2 miles 8 min by road
  3. The crown and the words THE SHOP on the red telephone box.Shop in the BoxA red telephone box on the Oa road turned into an honesty shop of island prints and cards, raising money for good causes.3 miles 9 min by road
  4. Laphroaig's white warehouses with the name in black across the bay, waves on the stony shore.Laphroaig DistilleryThe Kildalton distillery of 1815 on a rocky bay east of Port Ellen, with its own malting floor.4 miles 12 min by road
  5. Bunnahabhain DistilleryBunnahabhain DistilleryIslay's unpeated exception, at the end of a long road on the Sound of Islay, looking across to the Paps of Jura.23 miles 50 min by road
Directions
The Singing Sands, a curve of pale sand below a brown headland, waves washing in.AttractionsThe Singing SandsA step away
The white front of Lagavulin with its name on the wall and the red chimney behind.AttractionsLagavulin Distillery5.0 miles
The broken tower of Dunyvaig Castle on its rocky point, the sea grey beyond.AttractionsDunyvaig Castle5.3 miles
A dark headland and a rocky cove at the Mull of Oa, the sea bright beyond.AttractionsMull of Oa5.8 miles
Ardbeg distillery's whitewashed warehouse wall beside the rocky Islay shoreAttractionsArdbeg Distillery5.9 miles
The American Monument on its cliff top at the Mull of Oa, the sea breaking on the rocks below.AttractionsAmerican Monument5.9 miles
Kildalton CrossAttractionsKildalton Cross10 miles
Bowmore, Isle of IslayAttractionsBowmore12 miles
The whitewashed front of the Bowmore Hotel on Jamieson Street, its name across the gable.RestaurantsBowmore Hotel12 miles
The Daily for 19 October, from Scotland with love. bare tree stumps standing in an autumn loch, forested hills reflected in the still water

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