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Aberdeenshire

Rattray Head

A wild headland north of Peterhead where miles of high dunes and empty beach face a lighthouse of 1895 standing on a rock out in the surf.

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Between Peterhead and Fraserburgh, where Buchan meets the North Sea, the land ends in one of the wildest stretches of coast in the north east.

Rattray Head is a place of wind and sand: dunes up to seventy-five feet high run for seventeen miles from St Combs to Peterhead, with an empty beach along their foot.

Just offshore, on a rock in the surf, stands the Rattray Head lighthouse, a tall white tower on a massive granite base, with the waves breaking round it. It was built in 1895 by the brothers David Alan and Charles Stevenson, and it was the first rock lighthouse built with a fog siren of its own. It has worked without keepers since 1982.

Behind the dunes lies the Loch of Strathbeg, Britain's largest coastal lagoon, where thousands of pink-footed geese spend the winter. On a grey day with a sea running, there are few lonelier or more beautiful places.

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Before you go

Free, at any time.

A track leads from the A90 towards the coast; from the end of it, it is a short walk over the sand hills to the beach. The lighthouse stands on its rock offshore and is not open; at low tide the rock can seem close, but do not try to walk out to it.

Where
Off the A90 between Peterhead and Fraserburgh, near Crimond.
The light
1895, by David Alan and Charles Stevenson; automated 1982.

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Did you know

Birds gather around the gallery of a lighthouse standing offshore off the Aberdeenshire coast, its white tower rising against a grey sky.
Did you know

A built-in siren.

Rattray Head was the first rock lighthouse built with its own fog siren.

A tall white lighthouse stands offshore in the sea off the Aberdeenshire coast, softly blurred beach grass framing the foreground.
Did you know

Seventeen miles of dunes.

The dunes at Rattray Head rise up to 75 feet and run for 17 miles from St Combs to Peterhead.

A gull glides low over grey water off the Aberdeenshire coast, wings angled against an overcast sky.
Did you know

The Stevenson brothers.

The lighthouse was built in 1895 by David Alan and Charles Alexander Stevenson.

Ben Lerwill

From our guide to Aberdeenshire

Standing off the North Sea cliffs between Peterhead and Fraserburgh is this simple but oh-so-sturdy lighthouse, built in 1895 from 20,000 cubic feet of granite blocks. During World War II it survived a machine-gun attack and an attempted bombing, and its wave-bashed base, topped by a neat pale tower, remains a landmark along the coast.

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Where it is

On the Buchan coast between Peterhead and Fraserburgh, off the A90 near Crimond.

Close byBuchan.
  1. Konik ponies at the water's edge on the Strathbeg marshes, their reflections below them.RSPB Loch of StrathbegTens of thousands of wild geese in winter, over a great dune loch on the Buchan coast.3 miles 12 min by road
  2. The bronze of Fisher Jessie with a child at her side on Marischal Street, Peterhead.Fisher JessieAndy Scott's bronze in Peterhead to the women of the fishing towns.8 miles 15 min by road
  3. A road running between green fields beside the golf course at Inverallochy.Inverallochy and Whitelinks BayTwo old fishing villages gable-end to the sea, then the long sands of Whitelinks Bay.8 miles 21 min by road
  4. A cell hall in Peterhead Prison, galleries rising to the roof above a table-tennis table.Peterhead Prison MuseumScotland's toughest jail, now a museum.10 miles 16 min by road
  5. Buchan Ness LighthouseBuchan Ness LighthouseRobert Stevenson's red-banded lighthouse of 1827 at Boddam.11 miles 17 min by road
  6. The Wine Tower on its rock above the sea at Kinnaird Head.Kinnaird Head Castle and The Wine TowerA castle turned Scotland's first mainland lighthouse.11 miles 21 min by road
Directions
AttractionsFraserburgh Golf Club8.6 miles
The Water of Philorth winding through dunes and salt marsh to the sea.WalksWaters of Philorth9.8 miles
Afternoon tea on a lace cloth in the Nooks & Crannies courtyard.CafeNooks & Crannies11 miles
The broken gable of Boddam Castle, a window open to the sky, on its rocky point above the sea.WalksBoddam Castle and Stirling Hill11 miles
The blue front of Strichen Antiques under its sign.ShoppingStrichen Antiques11 miles
Stone tower on a rocky headland, seen beyond rooftop chimneysAttractionsMuseum of Scottish Lighthouses11 miles
A tall old tree in full summer leaf in the woodland of Aden Country Park.WalksAden Country Park14 miles
A costumed figure in a red gingham shawl and black bonnet among the displays of the Aberdeenshire Farming Museum.AttractionsAberdeenshire Farming Museum14 miles
The recumbent and standing stones of Aikey Brae Stone Circle in a clearing among dark pines.AttractionsAikey Brae Stone Circle15 miles

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What we have written about it, the collections it is in and more in Aberdeenshire.

From the magazineBeaches of ScotlandArticleAberdeenshire’s Great EscapesArticleThe Wildest of Scottish LighthousesCollectionLighthouses in Scotland You Can Actually Reach
More in Aberdeenshire

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For further reading, before you go. The details on this page were checked on .