The Bell Rock


(Inchcape, Inch Cape)

A sandstone reef in the North Sea, 11 miles (17.5 km) southeast of Arbroath on the Angus coast and east of the entrance to the Firth of Tay, the Bell Rock is also known as the Inchcape (or Inch Cape). The reef came to be known as the Bell Rock when an Abbot of Arbroath placed a bell here to warn sailors of the danger. Southey's famous Ballad of the Inchcape Rock tells how Sir Ralph the Rover cut down the bell and a year later perished when his ship hit the same rock. A lighthouse was begun here in 1807, with the remarkable structure entering service four years later.


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