South Foreland Lighthouse

A landmark of the White Cliffs, the Victorian lighthouse was built to warn mariners of shifting sands and guide them through the Strait of Dover. A place of innovation and science, the lighthouse was the first to display an electric light anywhere in the world.

Today you can still enjoy views of the channel to the French coast by climbing all the way to the top. See what it was like to work here and what a lighthouse keeper did while on duty. Wave to ships in the channel and watch the Victorian clockwork mechanism that made the lighthouse flash.

Or for a more relaxing time just borrow a kite from us or play one of our games on the lawn. You can step back in time at Mrs Knott’s Tea-room, in the former lighthouse keeper’s cottage, and remember another world of bone china and proper leaf tea, just as it used to be.