Lynmouth Foreland Lighthouse is located on Foreland Point; it was originally simply named 'The Foreland Lighthouse'. First lit on 28th September 1900, the lighthouse was built to assist vessels passing through the Bristol Channel, and is a round brick tower painted white. The light is above the high tide, and flashes 4 times every 15 seconds; the optic was manufactured by ChanceBrothers & Co. and is very similar to that installed in Pendeen Lighthouse the same year. It was rotated by clockwork until 1975. Initially, the light was said to have the power of 56,750 candles; later the intensity of the light was rated at around 190,000 candlepower. In 1906, the lighthouse was provided with an explosive fog signal, which sounded once every five minutes and was actuated by an automatic clockwork firing mechanism. This was housed in a hut at the top of the steep steps leading down to the lighthouse,. The explosive signal remained in use until 1958. In its place, a triple-frequency electric fog signal was installed, sounding through a stack of thirty Tannoy speakers built on to the front of the lighthouse tower; because the lighthouse was not yet connected to mains electricity the 3,000 rpm alternator was driven by a diesel engine. The fog signal has since been decommissioned. The light was electrified in 1975, when diesel generators were installed. Mains electricity was brought to the lighthouse in 1989, and it was automated in November 1994. In 2020 Trinity House submitted a planning application for the removal of the Fresnel lenses, and their replacement with a pair of static LED lights to stand on the old lens pedestal. This is part of their programme to replace all the mercury floated rotating lens systems in their lighthouses with static LEDs. Lynmouth Foreland had always been an unpopular posting among lighthouse keepers, not least because the isolated compound never sees the sun except during the three months of high summer. The lighthouse keeper's cottage is now a National Trustholiday cottage. Porpoise and sea birds can be spied from its windows, and deer often shelter in the combe down to the lighthouse.
