An historic small lighthouse at the head of the town pier in North Queensferry (Fife), the Light (or Lantern) Tower dates from 1817 and is the work of Robert Stevenson (1772 - 1850). The pier was designed and constructed in 1813 by engineer John Rennie (1761 - 1821) and improved in 1828 by Thomas Telford (1757 - 1834). This light once guided ferries across the narrowest stretch of the Firth of Forth to the slipway at North Queensferry, operating until the withdrawal of the ferries with the opening of the Forth Road Bridge in 1964. The hexagonal tower is 5m (16 feet) in height and 1.2m (4 feet) wide and is capped by a copper dome. The original lighting apparatus remains. At first whale oil provided the fuel, but this was later replaced with paraffin, then gas and finally electricity. The structure was A-listed in 1979, has been restored to working condition and was re-opened by The Princess Royal in 2010.
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