(Photo credit to John Young on Unsplash)

You don't have to be an expert pharologist to appreciate the beauty and history of the amazing lighthouses around the UK

For as long as humans have sailed on the sea, beacons have been used to guide them safely on their way.

The oldest still-standing lighthouse, The Tower of Hercules in Galicia, was built by the Romans in the first century and overlooks the North Atlantic coast of Spain.

But it was in Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that lighthouses really came into their own – so it’s no wonder our coastlines are dotted with some of the world’s most magnificent examples of lighthouse engineering.

Take the Eddystone Lighthouse in Plymouth, for example – now known as Smeaton’s Tower in remembrance of its designer John Smeaton, often known as the Father of Civil Engineering.

Smeaton's Tower now stands proudly on Plymouth Hoe overlooking the waves

See our Smeaton's Tower tea towel

Designed in 1775, Smeaton’s Eddystone Lighthouse enabled Plymouth-bound ships to navigate the treacherous waters around the Eddystone Rocks.

Smeaton’s design revolutionized lighthouse engineering and pioneered the use of hydraulic lime – a discovery which eventually led to the development of modern concrete.

The Eddystone Lighthouse was dismantled due to erosion in 1882, but it was partially rebuilt at nearby Plymouth Hoe where it stands to this day as a celebration of Smeaton’s innovations.

Now open to the public, Smeaton’s Tower boasts amazing views over the Plymouth Sound and the surrounding city.

Two hundred miles east along the south coast is another gem of British lighthouses: Beachy Head Lighthouse.

Beachy Head is the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain, with beautiful views across the English Channel

See our Beachy Head tea towel

Built at the turn of the twentieth century, Beachy Head Lighthouse has the same classic red and white design as Smeaton’s Tower.

The lighthouse at Beachy Head has a particularly special claim to fame: it featured in one of the most iconic scenes of British cinema, when Chitty Chitty Bang Bang drives right off the cliffs and flies for the first time.

But if flying cars don’t really do it for you, what about ghost stories and drowned sailors?

Perched on a small wave-thrashed sea stack just off Holy Island, South Stack Lighthouse is about as haunted as they get.

This design shows the iconic lighthouse from the gorse-covered cliffs of Holy Island

See our South Stack Lighthouse tea towel

It was built back in 1809, and back then the only way to get to the lighthouse was in a basket suspended from a hemp cable - which doesn't sound particularly comfortable, not to mention safe!

South Stack Lighthouse was one of the filming locations for the television show Most Haunted.

Rumour has it that the ghost of lighthouse keeper Jack Jones can be heard knocking on the door at night and banging on the windows.

And it’s not only Jack Jones who haunts South Stack: it’s said that shipwrecked sailors can be heard crying for help on windy nights.

Creepy, right?

Even without stories of ghosts and shipwrecks, lighthouses often have something eerie about them – perhaps just because they’re often out of use and in remote locations cut off from nearby villages.

Take Neist Point on the Isle of Skye, one of Scotland’s most magnificent lighthouses – and believe me, there are quite a few!

The West Coast of Scotland has its own pod of Orcas, occasionally sighted a few miles off the coast from Nest Point

See our Neist Point Lighthouse tea towel

Standing on the most westerly point of the Isle of Skye, Neist Point Lighthouse is surrounded by stunning views of high cliffs and dramatic rock formations.

The lighthouse itself was built in 1909 and has since been completely automated, meaning that the attached cottages and residence areas are completely derelict.

If you look through the dusty windows, you can see books and family photos still sitting on tables, bed linen and kitchenware on the mantelpiece.

But it’s the location that really makes Neist Point special. Looking out over the sea, it can feel like you’re right on the edge of the world.

And at the end of the day, isn’t that what makes lighthouses such amazing places to visit?

You don’t have to be an expert lighthouse-spotter to appreciate the solitary beauty of the lighthouses at Neist Point or Beachy Head.

You don’t have to know about Fresnel lenses or parabolic reflectors to admire the crashing waves and soaring cliffs of South Stack, its lighthouse beam still revolving through the night sky.

Check out our Lighthouse tea towels here