Barns Ness Lighthouse is 3.1 miles (5 km) from Dunbar and was constructed by the engineers and brothers David A. Stevenson and Charles Alexander Stevenson, cousins of the novelist Robert Louis Stevenson, between 1899 and 1901. Taking approximately 2½ years to construct, it was constructed from stone quarried from Craigree and Barnton. In 1976 it was described as a tall tower, slightly tapered with a circular section having a circular lantern which has triangular panes and a domed roof. The keepers' cottages were, as is typical, one floored, flat roofed buildings which were coated with harling but had their quoins exposed. The lintel above the door to the lighthouse is dated 1901. Within the compound of the lighthouse there was also a sundial and a flagpole.