Getting Around Inside

Once inside the Lighthouse complex there is flat, level paving 1200mm wide, which leads to the main entrance.

Main Entrance and Ticketing Office

• The main entrance has level access
• The door is 1050mm wide
• The main door is wedged open during opening hours
• Our Ticketing area and Gift Shop are located inside the main entrance
• The counter is 860 mm high
• The area is well and evenly lit by ceiling lights
• Ticket and shop prices are displayed in large print
• We offer a complimentary ticket policy to carers and welcome assistance dogs
• If required, assistance can be given through the use of pens and paper

We have four museum displays located in former lighthouse buildings:

Foghorn Engine Room 

• The first display area is the Foghorn Engine Room accessed through our Ticketing area and Gift Shop, via a metal ramp with slight incline (see photo)
• The Engine Room is large and well lit, with three green engines and original mosaic tiled flooring
• The interactives in this room include a simulation foghorn, flashing lighthouse and the sound of the sea. These interactives can be switched off on request
• Exit the Engine Room by the side door, via a step or wheelchair ramp. The ramp measures 840 mm wide

Smiddy 

• The Smiddy is next door the Foghorn Engine Room. It is on the same level with flat paving slabs outside and a cobbled surface inside the Smiddy.
• The Smiddy door is 880 mm wide
• The interactives include the sounds from inside a Blacksmith’s workshop. These can be switched off on request
• Exit via the same door and continue across the courtyard to the Marine Life Centre

Marine Life Centre

• The Marine Life Centre is on the same level surface as the Smiddy.
• There is a green outer door and an inner glass door. The glass door has contrast markings.
• The Marine Life Centre is over two floors
• The ground floor has low lighting to contrast the bright display screens. Ground floor lights can be switched on, on request.
• The ground floor interactives includes underwater sounds. These can be switched off on request – this will also switch off the screen lights

• There is a staircase and customer lift to first floor displays.
• Both sides of the stair case have a hand rail.
• The lift door is 900 mm wide.
• The lift is 1140 mm wide and 1410 mm deep.
• The lift says the floor number at each floor and the direction of travel
• The lift buttons have raised numbers and a raised bell for the alarm.
• The lift shows the floor number at each floor.
• To operate the lift, select which floor you wish to travel to and keep this button pressed for the duration of the journey.
• The lighting in the lift is LED spotlight. There is no music in the lift
• The flooring in the lift is PVC non-slip material.

• The first-floor interactives include whale song and seabird calls. These can be switched off on request
• Exit via the first-floor door; there is an inner glass door with contract markings
• The outer door leads onto a gently sloping ramp with handrail

• This takes you to the base of Sumburgh Head Lighthouse, where two interpretive panels with large print detail the construction history of the Lighthouse
• Archways lead around the other side of the Lighthouse to the WWII Radar Hut. The path slopes up towards the Radar Hut entrance

Radar Hut

• The Radar Hut is original and part of our Military heritage. It survives with a blast wall and original stepped entrance, which was deliberately narrow (670 mm wide) to protect the people stationed inside.
• The interior has been restored to recreate an event from 1940. Interactives include wartime music, an interview and the sound of sirens. These can be switched off on request.