North Ronaldsay Lighthouse (Orkney Islands)

North Ronaldsay Lighthouse was built in 1852 just 43 years after the Old Beacon was decommissioned. The lighthouse lies at the north of the island at Point of Sinsoss and is Britain’s tallest land-based lighthouse tower at 43 metres (141 ft). The lighthouse is a brick cylindrical tower that is unpainted with two white stripes. The lighthouse visitor centre includes a cafe, gift shop, bike hire, lighthouse exhibition, island life exhibition and the wool mill.

The Old Beacon is a lighthouse located at Dennis Head, in the northeast of North Ronaldsay in the Orkney Islands. The lighthouse was built in 1789 by Thomas Smith and he was helped by his stepson Robert Stevenson, the lighthouse is an unpainted stone cylindrical tower at a height of 21 metres (69 ft). In 1809 it was decided that the North Ronaldsay light was no longer required. The round stone tower was retained as a sea-mark, with the original beacon chamber at the top replaced by a vaulted roof, capped by a ball finial. The stone spiral staircase which once led to the beacon was demolished and the original keepers’ houses, although roofless but largely complete, survive below the tower. Just 43 years later in 1852, a new lighthouse was built just to the north.North Ronaldsay does have a current lighthouse.

The Standing Stone is over 13 feet high and three feet wide, the stone tapers from its base, narrowing slightly towards the top. It has been suggested that this solitary monolith was once an outlier for a stone circle.

South Bay Beach is a large sandy bay with white sand. The semi-feral flock of North Ronaldsay or Orkney sheep have evolved to live almost entirely on seaweed. They are confined to the shoreline by a 1.8 m (6 ft) tall drystane dyke, which completely encircles the island, forcing the sheep to stay on the shoreline.

The North Ronaldsay Bird Observatory (NRBO) was established in 1987 to study and record the migrant birds that pass through Orkney’s most northerly island each year. The number and variety of birds that arrive here on migration in Spring and Autumn can be spectacular, and North Ronaldsay is well-known as one of the best birdwatching sites in the UK. The observatory also provides a variety of comfortable accommodation, including guest house, hostel and camping area, for visitors to the island.

Broch of Burrian is an Iron Age broch located on the southern tip of North Ronaldsay in the Orkney Islands. The broch has solid walls and an external diameter of 18 metres with the entrance being a passage on the southeast side, there is a small room on the northeast side. The broch is surrounded by outer defences consisting of the remains of four concentric ramparts on the landward side.