The Princess Royal is to hold a reception at the Palace of Holyroodhouse to mark the 200th anniversary of the Bell Rock lighthouse.
Princess Anne, as patron of the Northern Lighthouse Board, will spend two days helping celebrate the bicentenary of one of the wonders of the industrial world.
Built by Robert Stevenson and completed in 1811, the Bell Rock Lighthouse has saved thousands of lives over the last two centuries by alerting vessels to the rocks just below the surface of the water 11 miles out from Arbroath Harbour.
On February 3, 200 years and two days after Bell Rock shone for the first time, the Princess Royal will hold a reception to mark the bicentenary.
The next day at the Royal Society of Edinburgh, she will attend the bicentenary conference, The Bell Rock Lighthouse, The Stevensons And Emerging Issues In Aids To Navigation.
Princess Anne has had a passion for lighthouses, known as pharology, which goes back to a childhood visit with her mother to Tiumpan Head on Lewis.
In the years since, she has visited many of Scotland’s 209 lighthouses on official and private visits and bagged more in the run-up to her 60th birthday last August on the Queen’s Western Isles cruise.
This Is The Year Of The Light is a celebration of one of the world’s greatest feats of engineering.
Harry Simpson, chairman of Arbroath and Area Partnership’s Year of the Light steering committee, which is supported by the local community planning team, said, “It’s wonderful that the Princess Royal is hosting a reception at Holyrood in honour of the 200th anniversary of the completion of the Bell Rock Lighthouse.
“The Year of the Light will be wonderful for Arbroath, Angus and Tayside and it’s a real bonus for us that Princess Anne’s attendance at these two events in Edinburgh will further highlight the bicentenary of the Bell Rock Lighthouse.”Series of special eventsThe world’s oldest sea-rock lighthouse stands 115ft 10in high and its light is visible from 35 miles inland.
Its light first shone on February 1, 1811, having taken 110 men four years to build.
It was a massive undertaking and involved many Arbroath craftsmen, including blacksmiths, builders and stonemasons.
The reef where the lighthouse was to be built was only visible for a few hours a day and work was severely restricted by the weather and the seasons.
Work was only possible between April and October.
David Taylor, of the group’s steering committee, is the great-great-great-grandson of Captain David Taylor, who commanded the ship where the builders stayed while working on the Bell Rock.
“As Stevenson reported on Friday, 1st February, 1811 ‘The day long wished for on which the mariner was to see a light exhibited on the Bell Rock, at length arrived’.”
He added, “Now, almost 200 years on, the bicentennial celebrations are about to begin, including several official events being held in Edinburgh over the first few days of February to honour the occasion.
“As one who is descended from one of the ships’ masters, I wish these events every success, especially the reception the Princess Royal is hosting at Holyroodhouse.”
The steering committee has planned a series of events throughout 2011 to celebrate the anniversary, including boat trips to the Bell Rock.