Flamborough Head Lighthouse

There was a brick built tower constructed in 1669 as the first lighthouse at the head. This still survives as a grade II listed monument.
The present lighthouse was designed by Samuel Wyatt and constructed at a cost of £8000 being first lit on 1st December 1806. The light had a distictive characteristic of two white flashes followed by a red flash which was designed by optics specialist George Robinson who was chief inspector of lighthouses at Trinity House. This was the first use of colour as part of a light characteristic, the red being used to distinguish Flamborough Head from Cromer further down the coast.

In 1872 a new paraffin lamp was installed designed by James Douglass, Flamborough being the first light to use paraffin. Along with the new lamp a new first order dioptric lens was installed by Chance Brothers of Smethwick near Birmingham. The revolving optic was designed to maintain the light's characteristic of two white flashes followed by one red. The speed of revolution was changed from a flash every two minutes to a flash every 30 seconds. This was driven by a clockwork mechanism, the optic was described as a "circular frame of six faces composed of great glass prisms, the third and sixth faces having sheets of ruby glass before them to give the red effect to the light". The red flashing lenses were made more than double the width of the clear white flashing panels to compensate for the reduced intensity caused by the ruby filters. These panels were at the time the largest ever constructed.

In 1925 the lantern was made taller to accomodate a new 15 foot lens, a first order revolving catadioptric optic made up of four asymmetrical panels displaying four white flashes every 15 seconds.

The light was converted to electricity in 1940 and automated in 1996 the last keepers leaving on 8th May that year.

The building is grade II listed and the East Riding of Yorkshire Council operates tours of the lighthouse under licence from Trinity House.