Maryport Old Lighthouse

In 1833 an Act of Parliament granted permission for a dock to be built at Maryport together with a new pier and lighthouse. Construction was overseen by a new board of trustees and the pier, complete with its lighthouse, was in place by 1846. Both remain in situ and the light is said to be the UK's oldest cast iron lighthouse (though it no longer serves as a navigation light). It is 36 feet (11 m) high and consists of an octagonal metal plinth, column and lantern on top of a rusticated stone base. It was originally gas-lit.

Subsequently, the harbour continued to expand. In 1852, following a storm, the south pier (on which the lighthouse stands) was extended, and a new light was provided at the end of the pier extension (described as a lantern on a post, lit by three gas jets) with a range of 6 nautical miles (11 km; 6.9 mi). The lighthouse thereafter served as a tidal light, being lit at night only for as long as there was 8 ft (2.4 m) of water within the harbour; (during the day it exhibited a red spherical day mark to signify the same). In 1858 the Harbour Trustees commissioned James Chance to manufacture a small (fourth-order) fixed optic for the lighthouse, which gave the tidal light a range of 12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi). The previous year, following completion of the Elizabeth Dock, additional (minor) lights had been installed on the north tongue and south jetty, within the harbour, coloured green and red respectively.