Calls for a lighthouse to be built on the island began in 1740 after the Swedish East Indiaman ship Svecia carrying cargo worth around £200,000 sank off the coast of North Ronaldsay. As a result of the sinking, the first survey of British waters was carried out by hydrographer Murdoch Mackenzie. However, a lighthouse was not approved on the island until the late 18th-century when tensions with France caused trouble for ships crossing the English Channel. Permission was then granted by the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses for a lighthouse at Dennis Head to be built.[1][2]
Construction on the 70-foot (21 m) tower began in 1788 under the supervision of Thomas Smith assisted by his stepson Robert Stevenson to designs by Ezekiel Walker.[1][3] They used materials and workers from Leith.[1] It was completed the following year and was first lit on 10 October 1789.[3] The total cost of construction was £199 12s 6d.[1] It was to be the first of many island lighthouses for Smith (he had previously worked on the lights at Kinnaird Head and Mull of Kintyre).[4]
Its lighting system, although advanced for its time, consisting of a cluster of oil-burning lamps and reflectors was not very effective, often being mistaken for the mast-head of another ship by mariners. In 1809, with the construction of other nearby lighthouses, it was decided that the lighthouse was no longer required, and the light was extinguished.[1]
Another lighthouse, North Ronaldsay Lighthouse, was built on the island in 1852.[5]
The Old Beacon featured on the 2006 BBC television series Restoration Village, finishing in third place.[6]
