Little Cumbrae Castle sits on a small tidal island, situated off the east coast of Little Cumbrae, in the Firth of Clyde. The present small square castle of Little or Lesser Cumbrae was built by Lord Eglinton in the 16th century, possibly as a base to prevent deer and rabbit poaching.
The vaulted great hall was on the first floor, together with the kitchen, which were modern by the standards of the day. The entrance was via the first floor, an entrance to the ground floor being an apparent afterthought. The castle had two vaulted cellars. The tower had a typical continuous course of chequered corbelling and round angle turrets at three of the four corners.
References:Towering 52 meters above the sea, Bengtskär lighthouse is the tallest one in Scandinavia. The building started in in 1905 after the shipwreck of S/S Helsingfors and was completed in 1906. The lighthouse was designed by architect Florentin Granholm. On December a special petrol lantern, designed and built in Paris, was brought to Bengtskär and installed atop the tower.
German fleet bombarded Bengstkär in the First World War in 1914. Since the Gulf of Finland was heavily mined, it was not until 1919 that the surrounding seas were declared safe for shipping, that the light was lit again.
After the war the military value of Bengtskär increased as part of the defence system of independent Finland. In Second World War (1941) Soviet Union made a suprise attack to island. After a bloody battle, the small Finnish garrison emerged victorious. Intermittent repairs to the facility continued during the post-war period.