Rattray Head is a remote and windswept headland on the east coast of Buchan in Aberdeenshire — one of those places that rewards anyone willing to drive a little further than most. A 17-mile stretch of largely empty beach runs south from St Combs to Peterhead, and Rattray sits roughly in the middle.
The lighthouse, 36 metres tall, was built in 1895 by Alan Stevenson and automated in 1982. It stands on a low spit of land that has been the site of many shipwrecks — rusted remains of several vessels are still visible on the beach. Behind the dunes lies the Loch of Strathbeg, a freshwater loch formed when a massive storm in 1720 blocked the old harbour entrance with sand. It is now an RSPB reserve and an important staging ground for migrating geese and wildfowl.
Rattray was once more than a lighthouse. It was a royal burgh in the 1560s with its own castle, built by the Comyns on a rock near the sea. The castle was destroyed — possibly during Robert the Bruce's Harrying of Buchan in 1308, possibly buried by the shifting sands. The harbour silted up by the mid-17th century and the settlement faded. What remains is the emptiness, the scale of the beach, and the light. If you are interested in lighthouses, the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses in nearby Fraserburgh is worth a visit.