The United Kingdom (officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) includes England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. England is the largest and most populous of the four, occupying more than 62% of the island of Great Britain and with a population of more than 56 million. Separated from the European mainland by the North Sea on the east and the English Channel on the south, it also has coasts facing the Celtic Sea on the southwest and the Irish Sea on the northwest. Historically England was divided into 39 counties. The Directory pages are organized by the modern division of England into 48 "ceremonial" counties, also called lieutenancy areas because each one has a Lord Lieutenant representing the monarch in that area. For local government the ceremonial counties are subdivided in various ways into council areas. This page covers lighthouses of southeastern England including Greater London and the neighboring counties of Essex and Kent. The south coast of Kent faces the Strait of Dover; the rest of this region faces eastward on the North Sea. London is by far the largest port, but there are many smaller ports. The British system of lighthouse administration is decentralized, with the major towers under the management of Trinity House (a corporation chartered by the Crown) and smaller towers generally under the control of local port authorities. This system has generally assisted lighthouse preservation, and so has the British custom of building very sturdy brick or stone lighthouses at most of the stations. Most of the onshore lighthouses are accessible to visitors, and several of them are major tourist attractions. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from Volume A of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA numbers are from Publication 114.
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Essex Lighthouses
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![]() Stoneness Light (replaced in 2021), Thurrock, September 2008 Flickr Creative Commons photo by kenjonbro |
Greater London Lighthouses
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Kent Lighthouses
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![]() 1913 Shornemead Light, Denton Pier, Gravesend, March 2022 Port of London Authority photo |
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![]() Lightships 86 (left) and 80 at Hoo (now Port Werburgh), September 2012 Google Maps photo by Chris jW |
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![]() Lightship 88 at Hoo, November 2009 photo copyright Anna Jenšíková; used by permission |
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![]() Trinity House Lightship 19 Varne and White Cliffs of Dover photo copyright Capt. Theo Hinrichs; used by permission |
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![]() South Foreland Light, St. Margaret-at-Cliffe, July 2011 Flickr Creative Commons photo by David Meggers |
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
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Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Eastern England | South: France North Coast | West: Southern England
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Posted August 27, 2004; checked and revised May 9, 2024. Lighthouses: 36, lightships: 17. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.