Name and Location

Peninnis Head Lighthouse, also known as Peninnis Lighthouse, stands at the southern tip of St Mary's on the Isles of Scilly, England. Its address is King Edward's Road, Old Town, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly TR21 0NH, UK. The coordinates are 49°54′16.6″ N, 6°18′13.4″ W.

Construction and History

Peninnis Head Lighthouse was erected in 1911 by Trinity House to replace an earlier pair of "high and low" lights dating from the 1680s. The tower was constructed between 1909-1911 using local grey granite rubble with ashlar dressings, and features a cast-iron lantern.

Architecture and Materials

The lighthouse has a circular conical tower with external buttresses at the base, painted white with a small black gallery. The height of the tower is 14 meters (tower), with a focal plane at 36 meters above mean sea level. Access to the lighthouse is through a single entrance door reached by a short flight of steps.

Light and Navigation

The light characteristic of Peninnis Head Lighthouse is one white flash every 20 seconds (Fl W 20s). The optics are modern PRB rotating beacon, replacing the original dioptric lens. The range of the light is 9 nautical miles (white sector) between bearings 231°–117° true; dark to landward.

Accessibility and Visiting

The lighthouse tower is not open to the public for visits or maintenance only. Visitors can reach the site on foot via public footpaths from Old Town or via King Edward's Road. Limited roadside parking is available at Peninnis Head car park (pay & display). Facilities include picnic tables, interpretative panels on the headland, and public toilets at nearby Peninnis Farm café.

Notable Views and Landscape

The lighthouse dominates the St Mary's southern coast, overlooking the white-sand beach of Porthkill Bay and The Garrison to the north. Panoramic views of the eastern isles—Taylor's Island, St Agnes, and the Western Rocks—in clear weather can be enjoyed from the headland.

Anecdotes and Folklore

Legend has it that a local keeper in the 1950s rowed out at dusk to retrieve driftwood under the flash of his own lighthouse—a prank later adopted by visiting Coastguard trainees. Mariners once nicknamed the twin lights "Jack and Jill" for the way they operated together—Jack the high light and Jill the low light.

Technical and Operational Details

Peninnis Head Lighthouse is still operational as a sea-mark for vessels approaching Scilly. It is managed by Trinity House (General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales, Gibraltar, and Channel Islands) and fully automated since 2001 with solar backup and remote monitoring.

Further Information

For more information, visit Trinity House's website or consult the Admiralty List of Lights and Fog Signals, Volume D (2023) – UK Hydrographic Office, or NGA List of Lights, Pub. 112 (2023) – National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.