3 Lighthouses to Explore in Isle of Wight

Checkout places to visit in Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is a ceremonial county and the largest and second-most populous island in England. It is in the English Channel, between two and five miles off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. The island has resorts that have been holiday destinations since Victorian times and is known for its mild climate, coastal scenery, and verdant landscape of fields, downland, and chines. The island is part of the historic county of Hampshire. It is designated a UNESCO Bi

Activities Around

Lighthouses to Explore in Isle of Wight

St Catherine's Lighthouse

St Catherine's Lighthouse is a lighthouse located at St Catherine's Point at the southern tip of the Isle of Wight. It was built in response to local need for reliable light to guide shipping, following the shipwreck of the Clarendon. Perched high on St Catherine’s Hill, the Oratory is often quoted as being a fine example of a medieval lighthouse, although it's more likely to have been a bell tower with a beacon alongside.

St Catherine's Oratory

St Catherine’s Oratory, which is situated on St Catherine’s Hill, Isle of Wight, overlooking Chale Bay, is the site of a prehistoric burial mound and a small medieval oratory, or chapel, the west tower of which is thought to have been used as a lighthouse. The 35-foot octagonal tower is Britain’s second oldest lighthouse after Dover’s Roman beacon, and as such, the Pepperpot has overseen much of the island’s history. Its creation, however, tells perhaps its most enlightening tale.

The Needles

The Needles is a row of three stacks of chalk that rise about 30m out of the sea off the western extremity of the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, the United Kingdom, close to Alum Bay, and part of Totland, the westernmost civil parish of the Isle of Wight. The Needles Lighthouse stands at the outer, western end of the formation. Built-in 1859, it has been automated since 1994.

Map of Lighthouses to explore in Isle of Wight