Name and Location

Happisburgh High Lighthouse is located at Lighthouse Lane, Happisburgh, Norwich NR12 0PY, Norfolk, England, UK, with coordinates 52.820478 N, 1.537032 E.

Construction and History

Built in 1790–91, Happisburgh High Lighthouse is the oldest working lighthouse in East Anglia and the only surviving one of the original pair (“High” and “Low” lights) erected to guide vessels through the hazardous sandbanks off the Norfolk coast. It remains an active aid to navigation, managed and maintained by Trinity House, the General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales and other British waters.

Architecture and Materials

The lighthouse is a freestanding cylindrical brick tower with a balcony and lantern, standing 45 m above its base and 41 m above mean high water. It features white painted walls with a single broad red horizontal band at mid-height, constructed from solid multi-wythe brickwork with a cast-iron lantern housing.

Light and Navigation

The light source is modern rotating sealed beam units (LED retrofit), with a characteristic of group flashing of three white flashes every 30 seconds. The visible range is 14 nautical miles, with Admiralty A 2336 and NGA 2144 as light references.

Accessibility and Visiting

Visitors can access the lighthouse seasonally from Easter to end October, on weekends and school holidays. Facilities include a small visitor reception in the old engine room, interpretive panels on local coastal geology and lighthouse history, and a gift shop. Tour details include climbing 137 steps to the lantern gallery, with maximum of 12 visitors per group for guided or self-guided tours.

Notable Views and Landscape

The lighthouse is situated atop soft glacial sands and clay cliffs, offering unobstructed panorama across Inner Scroby Sands, Haisborough Sand, and offshore shipping lanes. The surrounding landscape features adjacent SSSI-designated dunes and saltmarsh, breeding grounds for shorebirds in summer.

Anecdotes and Folklore

Families lived in Lighthouse Cottages immediately to the south until the mid-20th century, with letters from the 19th century recounting high winds, subsidence fears, and constant maintenance of the brickwork. Some residents claim to hear the click of an unseen lantern shutter late at night—said to be the ghost of a Victorian keeper.

Technical and Operational Details

The lighthouse is fully automated, monitored remotely by Trinity House, with no AIS or radar transponder installed specifically at the tower. The foghorn was decommissioned in mid-20th century, and nautical charts include UKHO Admiralty Chart 2312 (East Coast of England—Great Yarmouth to Winterton Ness).

Further Information

For further information, please visit the Happisburgh Lighthouse Trust website at https://happisburghlighthouse.org.uk/, Trinity House at https://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouses-and-lightvessels/happisburgh-lighthouse, Historic England at List Entry 1078227, Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happisburgh_Lighthouse, and The Lighthouse Directory (University of North Carolina) at http://www.ibiblio.org/lighthouse/ukne.htm#happ.