South Foreland Lighthouse is a Grade II listed building in the Dover local planning authority area, England. First listed on 23 April 1987. Lighthouse. 2 related planning applications.
South Foreland Lighthouse
- WRENN ID
- second-panel-mist
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Dover
- Constituency
- Dover and Deal MP: Mike Tapp (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 23 April 1987
- Type
- Lighthouse
- Address
- South Foreland Lighthouse, the Front, St. Margaret's at Cliffe
- OS grid reference
- TR 359 433
- Coordinates
- 51.14039, 1.37116
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
South Foreland Lighthouse, built in 1793 and rebuilt in 1843, is a lighthouse and outbuildings located in St Margaret's at Cliffe. The structure is rendered and features slate roofs, with an irregular octagonal shape and flanking wings. The tower consists of three storeys set on a plinth, adorned with machicolations and a battlemented parapet. At the top, there is a lantern with a ball finial and weather vane. The single-storey outbuildings have a plinth, parapet, and a low hipped roof with two cast iron chimney pots. The main facade includes a projecting canted bay window and a projecting return wing, both topped with pediment-shaped parapets and Trinity House emblems. The tower is connected to the outbuildings by a short wing that features a four-centred arched doorway. The main entrance to the tower has a pointed arch supported by attached shafts. Notably, this lighthouse was the first in the country to have a permanent electric lamp installed in 1872, and it is only surpassed in power by the Lizard Light on the south coast.
Local climate
South Foreland Lighthouse receives an average of 780 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 59% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 84% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 8 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 94% of listed buildings. Of these, 4 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 2 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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