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Souter Lighthouse

With RoadTour you can hear about Souter Lighthouse and over 1500 other UK Heritage sites via your SatNav or Mobile as you drive! Pub & Restaurant guides also available. Buy RoadTour now online for your vacation to the UK...

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“Taking its name from Souter Point, a mile to the South, this was the world’s first electric lighthouse. The 800,000 candle power light, driven by a steam engine, was the first to use alternating power and could be seen up to 26 miles away. Dangerous reefs surround this area - creating treacherous currents known locally as the 'Whitburn Steel'. Just before the lighthouse was built they were responsible for 20 shipwrecks in a single year. Over the centuries, there have been an average of 44 wrecks for every mile of coastline, making this one of the most dangerous areas for ships in the British Isles. The lighthouse also features another warning system for ships - a fog-horn which was originally made of clay and iron. It created such a tremendous noise that the lighthouse keepers were supposed to be paid an extra 2 shillings a day as ‘noise-money’. Today one can see all the foghorns which have been used at the lighthouse including the current, enormous example - reputed to be the loudest in the UK. In bad weather, the horn would be sounded every 30 seconds and could be heard for miles inland. This carried on right up to 1988 when it was taken out of service. Now it is only used on special occasions such as in support of the local football team. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known as the author Lewis Carol, frequented the area and its beaches while visiting his cousin. In his biography, by Stuart Collingwood, it is said that during a parlour game with his cousin, he wrote the poem The Jabberwocky and was also inspired to write The Walrus and the Carpenter in which the two characters ‘wept like anything, to see such quantities of sand’. ”

Address:

Coast Road
Whitburn, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear
SR6 7NH
Visit Website

Opening Hours:

17 Mar-28 Oct: Sat-Thu 11-5pm

Prices:

Adult: £4
Child: £2.50
Family: £11.50

Facilties:

See more Unique Historical Locations in North of England:

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