You can see them across the estuary when visiting the Holy Island of Lindisfarne.

The Old Law Beacons stand at the tip of a sandy spit on the south side of the entrance to Holy Island harbour.   Although the Trinity House website dates them to 1859, Tony Denton, in Lighthouses of England and Wales: A Complete Guide, writes that they were designed for Trinity House by John Dobson, a Newcastle architect, and built between 1820 and 1840.

Glenn Bailey discovered this notice in the Newcastle Courant of December 12, 1829: “The Corporation of the Trinity House of this Town has built Two Beacons Upon the Old Law, as leading marks into Holy Island Harbour, and the old Wooden Beacons are taken down.”

Whatever their purpose, both past and present, please do have a gander at Ian Cook’s photo gallery which also includes beautiful photos of Lindisfarne itself, one of the most magical places in the British Isles.

By Ian Cook