The lighthouse was designed by James Walker and built in 1835 by Olver of Falmouth, for Trinity House and the original light came from eight Argandoil lamps mounted on a revolving frame. The light was seen to flash once every twenty seconds. In 1865 an additional lamp and reflector were installed 'in the living room of the principal keeper' which shone a fixed light through a square window in the direction of a dangerous cluster of rocks known as The Manacles.. After 1903 this subsidiary light was instead shown from a separate 'hut' from the tower itself. A fog-bell was installed in 1865, replaced in 1882 by a larger, two-ton bell, in diameter. It hung from a girder attached to the front of the gallery. A set of weights, descending a shaft, drove the rotating optic; during foggy weather additional, heavier weights were engaged and the same mechanism then also activated the bell, which sounded four times every minute. After the closure of the lighthouse at St Agnes, Isles of Scilly in 1911, St Anthony's was one of the only major Trinity House lights still using reflectors rather than Fresnel lenses. At that time it still used the same arrangement of eight lamps, providing a flash every twenty seconds. In 1912-13, however, work was underway for the 'improvement of high and abolition of low light': and by 1920, the light source had been changed to pressure vapour and a large fixed Fresnel optic had been introduced. The size of the lens meant that the height of the lantern had to be increased. As part of these improvements the subsidiary light was discontinued, being replaced by the addition of a red sector to the main lamp. An electric light was introduced when electricity was connected to the lighthouse in 1954. At the same time an experimental electricfog signal was introduced, sounding from 35 Tannoy emitters. The fog bell, which hung from the gallery at the front of the tower, was therefore decommissioned; it was donated to the nearby Penwerris church, but after many years of sitting on the churchfront lawn, was taken away to be melted down. Today the light is automated, flashing every 15 seconds, with a red sector for The Manacles and a range of 22 miles. The fog horn blasts once every 30 seconds. St. Anthony's lighthouse was featured in the intro of the UK version of Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock, as "The Fraggle Rock Lighthouse". Nearby St. Mawes is also featured in some scenes from the programme.
