Flat Holm Lighthouse

Flat Holm Lighthouse stands on the small limestone island of Flat Holm in the Bristol Channel. The 30-metre tower rises 50 metres above high water, its powerful 100-watt lamp flashing three times every ten seconds. The light shows red between 106° and 140°, white to 151°, red to 203°, then white again to 106°. A foghorn building nearby, dating from 1906, is a Grade II listed structure. The island itself is flat and grassy, with sheer cliffs on the south side and a sheltered beach on the north. The lighthouse has a long history of keeping ships safe. The first warning was a brazier on a wooden frame in the 18th century. In 1737 William Crispe built the stone tower at his own cost of £800 after a shipwreck killed 60 soldiers. Trinity House bought the lease in 1822 for £15,838.10. The lantern was raised twice, first in 1819 and again in 1824, and a clockwork mechanism was added in 1881. The foghorn, restored in the 1990s by volunteers, once sounded two blasts every two minutes. Visitors walk the island’s cliff-top paths and see the lighthouse up close. Inside, the tower contains rooms once used by keepers, now empty since automation in 1988. The restored foghorn building houses the engine that once powered the siren. From the top of the lighthouse the view stretches across the Bristol Channel to the Welsh and English coasts. The island’s quiet grassland and seabird colonies provide a contrast to the tower’s steady beam.