Hartlepool, Heugh

The Heugh Lighthouse is located on The Headland in Hartlepool, County Durham.

The current lighthouse dates from 1927; it is owned and operated by PD Ports. It is claimed that its early-Victorian predecessor was the first lighthouse in the world reliably lit by gas.

That initial light debuted on 1 October 1847, fuelled by natural gas from one of the local coal mines.

The main light was visible for 29km out to sea.
 
The old light’s demise came about as an indirect result of the German raid on Hartlepool in December 1914.

The lighthouse itself was unscathed, but it was apparent that the tower obstructed the line of fire of the defensive guns of the Headland batteries and was therefore dismantled in 1915.

The current lighthouse, of a prefabricated steel construction, is a white-painted cylindrical tower, 16 m in height.

Built not far from the site of the first lighthouse it was designed to be able to be dismantled in the event of war, so as not to provide a landmark for enemy gunsights.

It was, from the start, electrically-powered and fully automated. The lighthouse is still in use today, under the management of the local port authority. It displays a white light, flashing twice every ten seconds.