Belle Tout Lighthouse

The 1828 lighthouse that was superseded because it sat above the fog — now a guest house on the cliff edge

Belle Tout is the lighthouse on the cliffs west of Beachy Head that was superseded by the red-and-white Beachy Head lighthouse in 1902 — because Belle Tout sat above the fog line and was therefore invisible to ships precisely when they needed warning most. The 1828 granite building is now a small hotel and bed and breakfast, reached by the South Downs coastal path and accessible by car via the Birling Gap road.

Even if you are not staying here, the walk to Belle Tout from Beachy Head or Birling Gap passes through outstanding chalk downland and offers exceptional coastal views. The lighthouse itself has a satisfying presence on the cliff edge — stark, round, and weathered white — and its history is more interesting than most coastal architecture. The path continues from here to the Seven Sisters.

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A story
Belle Tout was built in 1828 to warn ships away from Beachy Head, but it had a fatal flaw: the light sat above the fog line, invisible to ships exactly when they needed it most. The solution was to build a new lighthouse at the base of the cliff in 1902. Belle Tout was then decommissioned, served as a BBC filming location, a private home, and in 1999 was famously moved 17 metres inland when the cliff edge retreated too close. It now operates as a bed and breakfast, probably the only lighthouse in Britain that was relocated to save it from falling into the sea.

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