St Bees Lighthouse

St Bees Lighthouse stands on St Bees Head in Cumbria, a cliff-top tower built of local sandstone. The first light here began in 1718 when Thomas Lutwidge burned coal on a metal grate to guide ships. A later oil lamp system replaced the coal fire after a keeper’s family died in a blaze. In 1866 the present 17-metre tower was completed, its lantern originally meant for Gibraltar. The optic was made by Chance Brothers and Wilkins & Co., with prisms that sent light seaward even from the landward side. The lighthouse marks the highest point of any in England, 102 metres above sea level. It once guided vessels in the London to Isle of Man air races between the world wars. During the Second World War the Home Guard practised manoeuvres nearby without ever firing at the tower. After 1987 the light became automatic, watched from Holyhead and later Harwich. In 2021 its halogen lamps were replaced by an LED cluster inside the Fresnel lens, cutting power use while keeping the same 18-nautical-mile range. Visitors reach the tower along cliff-top paths above the Irish Sea. The lantern room still holds its original optics, and the sandstone walls show the work of builder John Glaister and engineer Henry Norris. Two keeper’s houses stand inland, now private homes. From the headland there are wide views over the Solway Firth and the Lake District hills. The fog signal building, once powered by Tannoy emitters, remains close to the cliff edge.