Buddon Ness High Lighthouse

There are two lighthouses at Buddon Ness and the first beacon light was placed on the headland in 1687.
Buddon Ness is situated at the entrance to the Firth of Tay and the two lighthouses allowed mariners to line up with both lights which would signify the correct course into the Firth of Tay toward the Port of Dundee.
Due to the displacement of sandbanks and changes to the flow of the Tay it was decided that two new lighthouses would be required. Trinity House of Dundee enlisted David and Thomas Stephenson as engineers for the project. Both towers were built between 1865 and 1866 and Buddon Ness High light had Chance Optical Equipment installed. The light is now part of the collection held by the National Museum of Scotland at Chambers Street Edinburgh EH1 1JF.
However once again the sands shifted on the Firth of Tay and in 1884 a unique operation took place to realign the lighthouses by moving the Buddon Ness Low light which weighed some 440 tonnes and was hauled 60 metres to it's new position. This was achieved by using a steam engine hauling the lighthouse across greased wooden rails. The operation began on 5th May and was completed on 4th June 1884.
Both lights were deactivated in 1943 though the High light was used as an observation post and a radar scanner was added in 1987.