Whitby High Lighthouse

Whitby High Lighthouse is located on the cliffs on Ling Hill, two miles away from the town of Whitby.

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In 1856 Trinity House paid £356 for two one acre plots of land on the cliffs at Ling Hill, close to Hawsker, a couple of miles from Whitby.  Two octagonal lighthouses were constructed here in 1858 to the designs of James Walker, Consultant Engineer to Trinity House.

The High and Low Lights when aligned, would clearly mark the off lying Whitby Rock, sometimes known as Scar Rock, which caught out many ships bound for the port. The High Light (or south tower), which is still operational today, was 45ft high, and the Low Light (or north tower) was built on a lower section of cliff, and was 66ft high. Both towers displayed fixed lights and were built approximately 330 yards apart.

With advances in lighting technology, towards the end of the 19th century Trinity House began to reduce the number of operational lighthouse towers, especially at places like Whitby where two towers required two complements of keepers.

In 1890 the Whitby Low Light was discontinued and demolished. The character of the High Light was altered from a fixed to an occulting light, and a vertical ruby strip was installed in the lantern, which shone a red sector over Whitby Rock.  Whitby Rock was now also marked by a buoy.

At an elevation of 240ft the light at Whitby was often obscured by low lying cloud. Following extensive fog signal trials at St Catherine’s Lighthouse, it was recommended that Whitby be equipped with a siren fog signal, and a fog signal station was built on the site of the former Low Light.

The building was divided into two, with an engine room and workshop in one half, and a dwelling for the attendant in the other. Two fog signal trumpets, each 20 feet long and 8 feet high, were mounted on the roof of the engine room and were set about 120º apart. The Whitby fog signal came into service on 4th January 1902.

Two horizontal 25 horsepower oil engines compressed the air needed to activate the horns. The powerful siren gave four blasts every ninety seconds, and the low tone quickly gained the nickname “Hawsker Bull”—it is said that the siren could be heard up to 10 miles away.

With the fog signal to look after, the complement of keepers at Whitby was raised from two to three—two families were housed at the lighthouse, and the third was accommodated in the dwelling at the fog station.

Following a review of navigational aid requirements, the fog siren at Whitby was discontinued in 1987. Initially, plans were put forward for an electric emitter stack, but this never came into operation. The redundant fog signal building was sold and converted to a family home, which became known as Hornblower Lodge.

Whitby High Lighthouse was modernised in 1976 when mains electricity was installed and the light changed to an isophase character, ie equal periods of light and darkness. The ruby strip in the lantern still marks Whitby Rock along with a bell buoy positioned offshore. The old paraffin vapour burner was donated to Whitby Museum where it is still on view today.

Whitby Lighthouse was fully automated in 1992.

The Cleveland Way footpath passes alongside Whitby High Lighthouse and in front of the former fog signal building.