Hartland Point

Hartland Point is a 325 ft (99 m) high rocky outcrop of land on the north-western tip of the Devon coast in England. It is three miles (5 km) north-west of the village of Hartland. The point marks the western limit (on the English side) of the Bristol Channel with the Atlantic Ocean continuing to the west. This location was known to the Romans as the "promontory of Hercules".

Trinity House, the lighthouse authority for England and Wales, has a lighthouse on the tip of the peninsula. The Hartland Point Lighthouse was built in 1874 under the direction of Sir James Douglass. The Grade II-listed tower is 18 metres (59 ft) tall with the lamp being 37 metres (121 ft) above mean sea level. The light can be seen up to 25 miles (40 km) away from the coast. It was blessed by Frederick Temple, Bishop of Exeter, who later became Archbishop of Canterbury. The tower was automated in 1984 and is now controlled from Trinity House Operations Centre at Harwich in Essex. Prior to automation, the lighthouse was built with accommodation for four keepers and their families. The keepers' dwellings have since been demolished to make room for a helipad to be constructed. This was necessary due to the precarious nature of the access road which is liable to frequent rock falls and landslips. Vehicular access is now very difficult and the gates tend to remain locked. The large concrete structures immediately to the south of the lighthouse provided the keepers with fresh water.

In its 2010 Aids to Navigation Review, Trinity House proposed to discontinue the Hartland Point Lighthouse Station on the grounds that Global Positioning Systems are superseding lighthouses as the most important navigation aids.

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