Scotland's southernmost lighthouse, a Stevenson tower on high cliffs at the tip of the Rhins, with an RSPB seabird reserve alongside
The Mull of Galloway is the most southerly point in Scotland, a narrow finger of cliff-edged land where the Irish Sea meets the Solway Firth, and the white lighthouse on the headland marks the turn for ships between the two. Robert Stevenson built the tower in 1830, and the Northern Lighthouse Board, which runs the lights of Scotland and the Isle of Man, still operates it, though the light was automated in 1988 and the keepers have gone. The cliffs around the point form an RSPB reserve, and in early summer they are loud with breeding seabirds — guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and puffins, with gannets fishing offshore. On a clear day you can see Ireland, the Isle of Man and the hills of the Lake District. The Mull of Galloway Trail runs north up the peninsula, and the sheltered Logan Botanic Garden with its palms and tree ferns is a short drive away.
