Lighthouse category:  coastal

Position:  50 08'.4 N : 05 00'.9 W

Status: active

Date:  1835

Designer:  not known

Tower height:  62 feet

Construction: octagonal stone tower with lantern and gallery

Colour scheme: tower white, lanter dome black

Focal plane height:  72 feet

Characteristics: main light is white, on for 7.5 seconds, off for 7.5 second.  A red light is also displayed to the southeast marking the position of the Manacles Rocks

Foghorn:  3 blasts every 30 seconds

Google map view:  google map link

 This is one lighthouse photograph that I won't forget in a hurry.  It was taken on 11 September 2001 at almost the exact moment that the first aircraft was being flown into the Twin Towers in New York.  The photograph was taken from Pendennis Castle overlooking Carrick Roads.  Saint Anthony's Lighthouse is a difficult one to access from land and is usually best photographed from the sea.  It's position is so remote that, in the days when it was manned, it was classed as a "rock station".  Having said that, it is possible to drive to the lighthouse along the Military Road that leaves the A3078 southwest of Porthcathro.  Parking is available close to the lighthouse but the site is so restricted that photography is difficult.  The lighthouse marks the eastern side of the entrance to Carrick Roads, the famous anchorage outside Falmouth Harbour.  The light was fully automated in 1987 and, in 2000, the equipment was modernised resulting in the light characteristics being altered to isophase.  The light is battery powered, the batteries being powered by electricity.  The white sector light is visible for 20 nautical miles and the red sector for 20 nautical miles.