The Needles Lighthouse is an active 19th century lighthouse on the outermost of the chalk rocks at The Needles on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom, near sea level. Designed by James Walker, for Trinity House at a cost of £20,000, it was completed in 1859 from granite blocks. It stands 33.25 metres (109.1 ft) high and is a circular tower with straight sides. It replaced an earlier light tower on top of a cliff overhanging Scratchell's Bay, which was first lit on 29 September 1786.
Aerial view of Needles Lighthouse
The Needles c.1890
The lighthouse with helipad.
One of the sets of supertyfon horns formerly installed on the lighthouse.
The Needles are a row of three stacks of chalk that rise about 30 metres (98 ft) out of the sea off the western extremity of the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, United Kingdom, close to Alum Bay and Scratchell's Bay, and part of Totland, the westernmost civil parish of the Isle of Wight. The Needles Lighthouse stands at the outer, western end of the formation. Built in 1859, it has been automated since 1994. The waters and adjoining seabed form part of the Needles Marine Conservation Zone and the Needles along with the shore and heath above are part of the Headon Warren and West High Down Site of Special Scientific Interest.
The Needles – View from the viewpoint near the former experimental rocket testing station
The Needles from the cliffs inshore at The Needles Battery showing the Needles Lighthouse
Close-up of the needles
The Needles - From the Beautiful Britain series, The Isle of Wight, by G. E. Mitton