The United Kingdom (officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) includes England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. England is the largest and most populous of the four, occupying more than 62% of the island of Great Britain and with a population of more than 57 million. Separated from the European mainland by the North Sea on the east and the English Channel on the south, it also has coasts facing the Celtic Sea on the southwest and the Irish Sea on the northwest. Historically England was divided into 39 counties. The Directory pages are organized by the modern division of England into 48 ceremonial counties, also called lieutenancy areas because each one has a Lord Lieutenant representing the monarch in that area. For local government the ceremonial counties are subdivided in various ways into council areas. This page covers lighthouses of the northeastern coast of England, north of Flamborough Head, including the ceremonial counties of Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham, and North Yorkshire. Facing the North Sea, this is a busy coastline with many harbors, especially along the estuaries of the Tyne and the Tees. The British system of lighthouse administration is decentralized, with the major towers under the management of Trinity House (a corporation chartered by the Crown under Henry VIII in 1514) and smaller towers generally under the control of local port authorities. This system has assisted lighthouse preservation and so has the British custom of building very sturdy brick or stone lighthouses at most of the stations. Most of the onshore lighthouses are accessible to visitors and several of them are major tourist attractions. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from Volume A of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA numbers are from Publication 114.
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Northumberland Lighthouses
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Tyne and Wear Lighthouses
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![]() Roker Pier Light, Sunderland, April 2024 ex-Instagram photo by Peace Drone |
County Durham Lighthouses
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North Yorkshire Lighthouses
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
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![]() St. Vincents Pier Light, Scarborough, July 2022 ex-Instagram photo by v_schollar |
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Southeastern Scotland | South: Eastern England
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Posted August 27, 2004; checked and revised April 26, 2025. Lighthouses: 46; lightships: 1. Site copyright 2025 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.