Hilbre Island Lighthouse

Hilbre Island Lighthouse stands on Hilbre Island in the River Dee estuary. It marks the Hilbre swash for ships entering the port. The lighthouse was built in 1927 by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board Authority. Since 1973 it has been run by Trinity House. In 1995 the light changed from acetylene gas to solar power. The tower is only three metres tall but the lantern sits fourteen metres above high water. Its beam reaches five nautical miles, guiding vessels through shifting sands. The Mersey Docks and Harbour Company handed control to Trinity House forty years after opening. Visitors reach the island on foot at low tide along a kilometre of causeway. The lighthouse itself is small and white, standing beside a cluster of stone buildings. From the lantern gallery there are wide views across the estuary to Wales. The surrounding sands and marshes form a quiet nature reserve where seals often rest.