Trevose Head Lighthouse

Trevose Head Lighthouse stands on the clifftop of Trevose Head on Cornwall’s north coast, near Padstow. A light was first shown here on 1 December 1847, after proposals dating back to 1809, to fill a gap in the lights of the Bristol Channel, which had nothing between Longships to the south and the old Lundy light to the north. The 27 m tower is a Grade II listed structure, with the light 62 m above high water. It flashes white every 7.5 seconds and has a range of 18 nautical miles.

The station began as a pair of leading lights, and the low light was discontinued in 1882. A fog signal was installed in the 1911-13 modernisation: a rectangular trumpet 36 feet long, developed by Lord Rayleigh, which was replaced in 1963. The lighthouse was automated in 1995 and is now monitored from Trinity House’s Planning Centre in Harwich, Essex. It is lit by an LED lamp, and the old rotating optic, in service for over a century, has been removed in recent works.

The former keepers’ cottages are let as holiday cottages. Trinity House lists four, called Pelorus, Verity, Nimbus and Brook, and bookings are handled by Rural Retreats. The lighthouse itself is a working navigation light, but the headland is a good place for a clifftop walk, with Harlyn Bay and Constantine Bay close by.