The Butt of Lewis () is the most northerly point on the Island of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. The headland, which lies in the North Atlantic, is frequently battered by heavy swells and storms and is marked by the Butt of Lewis Lighthouse. The nearest populated area is the village of Eoropie, about to the south.
The road to the lighthouse passes a sheltered cove called Port Stoth. Southwest from the lighthouse is a natural arch called the "Eye of the Butt" ().
It is claimed that the Butt of Lewis is one of the windiest locations in the United Kingdom.
Name
The Gaelic name for the Butt of Lewis, Rubha Robhanais, means "Robhanais Point". The name Robhanais, formerly anglicised as Rowaness, comes from the Norse Rófunes, meaning "promontory of the tail".
Lighthouse
The Butt of Lewis Lighthouse was built by the famous lighthouse builder David Stevenson in 1862. Other sources include Thomas Stevenson as one of the builders too. Little is known of the station's early history. A plaque in the lightroom indicates that the present equipment was installed in 1905. The station became the radio link for the keepers on the isolated Flannan Islands in the early 1930s, and continued to function as such until 1971, when the Flannans was made automatic. It was excavated by antiquarians sometime before 1905, when bones and pottery were found. The bones were found to be from animals
RCAHMS surveyed the isle in 1928 and found part of the structures had collapsed since the excavations. A survey in 2005 found some additional structures not mentioned by the earlier sources.
Gallery
<gallery mode="packed" class="center">
File:Butt of Lewis Lighthouse (33888546188).jpg
File:Butt of Lewis.jpg
File:Lighthouse, Butt of Lewis.JPG
File:Butt of Lewis.png
File:Butt of Lewis Lighthouse - geograph.org.uk - 1961546.jpg
</gallery>