Sombrero, Anguilla
 
Anguilla
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| Coordinates | 18°35′11.7″N 63°25′35.4″W / 18.586583°N 63.426500°W |
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| Year first constructed | 1868 (first) |
| Year first lit | 2001 (current) |
| Foundation | concrete basement |
| Construction | concrete tower |
| Tower shape | three-stage cylindrical tower with beacon |
| Markings / pattern | white tower |
| Height | 15 metres (49 ft) |
| Focal height | 28 metres (92 ft) |
| Light source | solar power |
| Range | 17 nautical miles (31 km; 20 mi) |
| Characteristic | Fl W 10s. |
| Admiralty number | J5650 |
| NGA number | 14712 |
| ARLHS number | ANG-001 |
| Managing agent | Government of Anguilla |
Sombrero, also known as Hat Island, is part of the British overseas territory of Anguilla and is the northernmost island of the Lesser Antilles. It lies 54 km (34 mi) north-west of Anguilla across the Dog and Prickly Pear Passage. The distance to Dog Island, the next nearest island of Anguilla, is 38 kilometres (24 miles).
Sombrero is 1.67 kilometres (1,826.33 yards) long north-south, and 0.38 km (415.57 yd) wide. The land area is 0.38 km2 (93.90 acres). Originally, when viewed from the sea, the island had the shape of a sombrero hat but guano mining operations have left the island with precipitous sides and a relatively flat top that is 12 m (39 ft) above sea level. The surface of the island is rough, and vegetation is sparse.
The guano-mining operation yielded some 3000 tons of phosphate a year by 1870. By 1890, the phosphate reserves had been exhausted.
The lighthouse marks the Anegada Passage, which is the route from Europe into the Caribbean. The first lighthouse was erected in 1868. In 1960, Hurricane Donna damaged this lighthouse, with the result that a new lighthouse replaced it in 1962. The lighthouses were manned from 1868 to 2001. In that year, Trinity House donated and installed the current, automated tower, which is a 15 m (49 ft) round tower, painted white. Anguilla's Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources is responsible for the maintenance of the navigational aids.
As a result of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1714, Sombrero passed into the hands of the British. Captain Warwick Lake of Recruit marooned an impressed seaman, Robert Jeffrey, there on 13 December 1807. As it turned out, Jeffrey survived. A passing American vessel, the schooner Adams from Marblehead, Massachusetts, had rescued him. Still, a court martial dismissed Lake from the Royal Navy.
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