20/07/2026
Whiteford Point Lighthouse, located off the coast at Whiteford Point near Whiteford Sands on the Gower Peninsula, South Wales, is a unique piece of maritime history. It is the only wave-swept cast-iron tower of its size in Britain. The lighthouse was built in 1865 to a design by John Bowen of Llanelli by the Llanelli Harbour and Burry Navigation Commissioners to mark the shoals of Whiteford Point. This replaced an earlier piled structure from 1854, of which nothing remains.
The lighthouse stands on a vast two-mile expanse of beach leading out along the edge of the Loughor Estuary. The area, which includes the sand dunes of Whiteford Burrows backed by pine trees, is a nature reserve owned by the National Trust. The name Whiteford is considered to derive from the Danish ‘Hvit-Fford’. The lighthouse remained in use until 1933. More recently, the Nature Conservancy Council took up the lease from the Llanelli Harbour Trust.
The lighthouse is now managed by Carmarthenshire County Council and is a Grade II listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It still has navigational value in daylight, providing a line of sight when leaving Burry Port Harbour to reach the main channel. The lighthouse is accessible by foot, but only during low tide. Visitors are advised to check the tide times and aim to get down there before low tide, as the lighthouse base is half a mile into the Loughor estuary off the peninsula's tip. The walk to the lighthouse will take at least an hour, so this should be factored into the hike.
References:
https://www.llanellich.org.uk/files/43-john-bowen-engineer
https://wsa-ondisplay.co.uk/.../pharology-whiteford.../
https://www.thevintagenews.com/.../whiteford-point.../
http://www.pwllmag.co.uk/history/whitford.htm
https://enjoygower.com/.../2018/2/9/whitford-lighthouse-walk
https://lighthouseaccommodation.co.uk/.../whitford-point.../
http://www.eftconsult.co.uk/.../proud-to-help-whiteford.../
https://www.uksouthwest.net/.../whiteford-national.../
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Whiteford_Lighthouse
https://www.gowerholidays.com/.../beaches/whiteford-burrows/
https://www.bronllysfarm.co.uk/blog/our-lighthouses
https://pembreyburryportheritage.co.uk/whiteford-lighthouse
