Originally spelt "Bimar Rock", the tower on Beamer Rock was built in 1826 on a small rocky hazard in the Firth of Forth between Lothian and Fife, close to Port Edgar, and guards the entrance to Rosyth dockyard and the inner Forth. Only 6 metres (20 feet) high, it was intended as a day marker as it could not accommodate a light keeper. The tower had a curved wave-washed design which had been used before on the more impressive Eddystone and Bell Rock Lighthouses. A fixed white light was only established on the tower in 1892; it gave a flashing white light every 3 seconds, visible for 9 nautical miles. Latterly the structure was painted white with the top half painted with a red band. It was operated by Forth Ports plc. The crown copyright graphic below is an artist's impression of the three bridges - the original rail bridge on the right, the first road bridge (opened in 1964) in the centre and on the left the new road bridge, Queensferry Crossing (formerly the Forth Replacement Crossing) which is scheduled for opening in 2016.
The tower was taken apart in 2011 as the rock is to be used as a support for one of the towers in the construction of the second road bridge across the Forth. Transport Scotland, responsible for the construction of the new bridge has said that additional navigation lighting will be mounted on the replacement crossing. There have been suggestions that the structure of the lighthouse should have a permanent home in the area, such as on a plinth at the Port Edgar Marina, explaining the purpose it has had for all of these years.
