History

As long as people have sailed the seas light has been used to signal danger or to show the way into a safe harbour. Norway's first lighthouse, a signal made up of 30 tallow candles, was lit on Lindesnes in 1656. But it was quenched after only a few months due to complaints about the light's being too weak. A coal-fired flare was started up in its place in 1724. To avoid mistaking it for the light on Skagen peninsula (“the Skaw”) on the northern tip of Denmark, a twin flare was lit on the island Markøy, to the north-west of Lindesnes.

Marjorie Laurie held the Royal Privilege as lighthouse supervisor for the two coal-fired flares. After her husband died in 1763 she and her son Andreas took on full responsibility. Operations were taken over by the State 20 years later. Marjorie was then the only one who knew how to deal with the flares.