Lightkeeper'S House Old Lighthouse

The building comprises a disused lighthouse and its associated keeper's house, constructed between 1819 and 1829 on foundations laid in 1787. The lighthouse was designed by engineer Daniel Asher Alexander and built by Joseph Nelson for Trinity House. A new lantern room was added at the base of the tower in 1829.

The structure is primarily granite ashlar, with the first stage of the tower including granite galleting. The keeper's house has a rag slate roof with lead rolls to the ridge and hips, and features a granite axial stack with a cornice. The circular lighthouse is situated at the southwest end, joined to the keeper's house on the northeast side by a covered passage-porch.

The tall, tapering lighthouse tower has a deep plinth with weathered courses, and a string near the top that projects as a canopy on the west side over a partly blocked window, originally housing a fixed lantern. A large moulded cornice sits at the top, supporting a balustrade with cast iron standards and a large cast iron glazed lantern with a conical roof topped by a ball finial and weathervane. A lantern room, also of granite ashlar with a curved multi-pane window, was added at the base of the tower in 1829 and is now roofless.

The keeper’s house is attached to the lighthouse via the covered passage, which functions as a porch, featuring panelled double doors with flanking lights. The two-storey house has a pedimented gable facing the tower, supported by square, detailed corner piers and featuring a large round-headed recess with a two-light window. A granite stringcourse is present at first-floor cill level, emphasizing the corner piers. A granite band below the eaves supports exposed rafter ends. The north east end of the house is blind. The windows are sash windows with glazing bars.

The interior includes a stone spiral staircase with 147 steps. A central room within the keeper's house has a large granite segmental arch fireplace with a granite mantel shelf, and a smaller fireplace is located at the back of the stack in the two small north east end rooms.

Historically, a group of Bristol merchants initially offered to fund the lighthouse’s construction in 1786. While foundations were laid in 1787, the lighthouse wasn't completed until Trinity House secured a 999-year lease in 1819. The lighthouse cost £36,000 and stands 97 feet high. The main lantern housed a fast-revolving light, while a fixed light shone through a window beneath the western canopy. Due to persistent fog, a new lantern room was added at the base of the tower. The site’s exceptionally high elevation (407 feet above sea level – the highest in Britain) meant fog remained a problem, leading to the construction of a fog signal battery around 1861. The lighthouse was eventually abandoned in 1897 upon the completion of the North and South Lundy Lighthouses.