Hurst Point Lighthouse
lighthouse on the Solent, in Hampshire, England, UK
Hurst Point Lighthouse is located at Hurst Point in the English county of Hampshire, and guides vessels through the western approaches to the Solent.
History
The old lights
The original lighthouse was the Hurst Tower, sited to the south west of the old Hurst Castle and lit for the first time on 29 September 1786. Richard Jupp was the architect and Joseph Huddart supervised and directed its construction, which was undertaken at the same time as the erection of two other lights nearby: one on St Catherine's Down and the other on the clifftop above The Needles (it being envisaged that the three would be used in conjunction). The red, brick-built Hurst Tower displayed a fixed white light, but the north-west part of the lantern was 'darkened' to prevent it confusing vessels navigating further along the coast to the west.
The Hurst Tower light was found to be obscured behind the Needles from certain directions; consequently, in 1812, this tower was supplemented by the High Lighthouse, a new tower at a higher level. The High Lighthouse, which was designed by Daniel Alexander, was a red, brick-built elliptical tower of an unusual and striking conical design. The two towers together functioned as leading lights for vessels approaching through the Needles Channel; both were equipped with three Argand lamps and reflectors (those in the Low Lighthouse were shown from a lower window in the tower, while a separate lamp in the lantern room above was angled in the opposite direction, to guide vessels navigating along The Solent). Each tower had been built with a keeper's cottage attached.
The new lights
In light of the expansion of the Castle between 1865 and 1873, it proved necessary to replace the two lighthouses. In 1865, a new Low Light was built: a white circular granite tower with a red lantern, which was attached to the new curtain wall of the castle; then, in 1867, a new High Light was built to designs by James Douglass: a freestanding 26 metre tower (which, in order to maintain the transit in relation to the channel, was positioned 15 metres to the east of the old High Light).
“Hurst Point Lighthouse” enters the record as lighthouse on the Solent, in Hampshire, England, UK. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Hurst, Point and Lighthouse can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Hurst Point Lighthouse” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Hurst, Point and Lighthouse provides the most credible route into that argument.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2752732. Authority coordinates are 50.708, -1.550. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1786, 1812, 1865 and 1873.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Hurst Point Lighthouse”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Hurst Point Lighthouse primary sources, Hurst Point Lighthouse archive and Hurst research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Hurst Point Lighthouse”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Hurst Point Lighthouse” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.