2-703-170 - Historic England Archive/Heritage Images

St Mary's Lighthouse, Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, c1955-c1980. An exterior view of the 19th century lighthouse, showing the 126ft tall tower with a partial view of the keeper's cottage to the right, and a stone boundary wall with steps leading to the complex and people sat on the rocks, seen from the east. The tower of the lighthouse is a white rendered tower 126ft tall, with domes roof and weathervane. The windows are scattered throughout the tower, and the windows of the lantern room at the top have diagonal panes. The keeper's cottage below is a stone building painted white and linked to the tower by a modern single storey range. Surrounding the complex is a stone wall, also painted white. The site of this 19th century lighthouse originally had a medieval chapel which burned a light to warn mariners, and the current lighthouse was built after several wrecks in the area, even though there is another lighthouse at Tynemouth priory. The lighthouse was converted to run on electricity in 1977, and was decomissioned in 1984, and runs as a museum and visitor centre.