The Old Flamborough Lighthouse

The Old Flamborough Lighthouse - Information

More about the fascinating history behind the Flamborough old lighthouse - thought to be the oldest lighthouse in England! Find out more...

The old lighthouse at Flamborough Head is a beautiful, old building, and very interesting, historically...

Of course, it is non-operational and sadly, is not open to the public. It is a good idea to combine a visit to this lighthouse with a visit to the newer Lighthouse at Flamborough Head

If you drive through Flamborough village, and follow the signs to 'Flamborough Head' and the 'Lighthouses', you will pass this building stood alone in a field near the road, a little inland - it leans quite alarmingly from this approach angle!

You can park in the large car park at Flamborough Head, near the newer lighthouse, and walk back the few hundred yards to view the older lighthouse.

This is a very old and interesting building - thought to be the very first lighthouse in England!

Flamborough Old Lighthouse Facts and Figures

• Where?
  • A little inland at Flamborough Head


• When?
  • Built 1669-1674 by Sir John Clayton


• History
  • At the time (as far as we know!) this was the only example of a lighthouse in England!
  • A chalk, octagonal tower - 79ft high - was built as a lighthouse, but was apparently used as a day beacon instead.
  • It is reputed that instead of being used to save lives, lights were used to lure ships onto the rocks below, so that the villagers could plunder the ships' cargoes (known as 'wrecking').
  • More recent investigations suggest that a fire was never actually lit on top of the tower
  • Between 1770 and 1806 174 ships were wrecked in the area. The current lighthouse was built in 1806.

The lighthouse is non-operational and is not open to the public. It can be viewed very easily from the road.

The lighthouse is owned by East Riding Council.

Martin kindly tells us more about other old lighthouses around the world...

Find out more about the newer Flamborough Head Lighthouse

Return to the main page for the Flamborough Lighthouses

Find out more about visiting Flamborough, Yorkshire.



In the area: find out about Bridlington Tourist Information.

Return to the main Yorkshire East Coast Lighthouse page

Return from this Old Flamborough Lighthouse page to the Home Page

Top of the Page



Search my site for a word or phrase:

Custom Search

Bringing you ideas and information for your British holidays, short breaks and days out in the UK...

...from Whitby to Scarborough, Filey, Bridlington, Hornsea, Withernsea, North York Moors and beyond…