Upper (East) Lighthouse and attached Keepers' Houses, walls and ancillary buildings

The Upper (East) Lighthouse and attached Keepers' Houses, along with associated buildings, were constructed in the 19th century. The lighthouse is a circular tapering tower, 37.2 metres in height, built of painted white, tooled ashlar. It has a moulded cornice over the ground floor, a plain band above the second stage, a moulded band and cornice to the parapet. Four recessed windows with plain cills illuminate the four upper storeys on the seaward side. The lantern structure is made of cast iron, featuring lattice-glazing and a domed roof, originally topped with a ball finial (replaced by a wind vane in 1996). A small corridor connects the tower to the symmetrically planned dwellings located on either side. These dwellings are single-storied, rendered (the later western cottage is lined-out), and have hipped slate roofs with central stacks featuring moulded cappings. The south-facing elevation has two windows, while the inner returns have blind windows. The western cottage’s outer return has three windows; the original eastern cottage has blind openings on its east elevation. Largely renewed 6 over 6 pane sash windows are set within original splayed openings. Long rear wings extend from the cottages, with the eastern cottage’s wing possibly partially added when the western cottage was built around 1860. The buildings are enclosed by rendered rubble walls with rough boulder copings, creating gardens and allotments around the dwellings. Small buildings against the eastern length of this wall were likely pigsties.

The interior wasn't inspected during a recent survey, but it’s believed the previously recorded features remain largely unchanged. A stone cantilevered staircase with a cast iron rail spirals around the inside of the tower, which originally comprised a single room on each of four stages, including a service room below the lantern. Stone slab ceilings are present in the lower stages, while the lantern storey has a cast-iron framework. A cast-iron tube at service room level formerly housed the weights for the clockwork mechanism, which was installed in 1924 when the lower light was discontinued. The lighthouse incorporates a helical, ‘beehive’ lens with a reinforced sector light.