Collection: Bishop Rock Lighthouse Collection

The Bishop Rock Lighthouse is probably the most famous in the Isles of Scilly, with its tall slender shape standing proud at the western approach to the islands. Built in 1858, and further strengthened in 1887, it marks a hazardous rock ledge 46m long by 16m wide, four miles west of the islands.

The rocks around Scilly have caused many ship wrecks over the years, including the loss of Sir Cloudesley Shovel's squadron of the British Fleet in 1707 in which 2,000 men died.

After this, Trinity House decided that the lighting of the Isles of Scilly — which at the time consisted of only the St. Agnes lighthouse — was inadequate, and resolved to build a lighthouse on the most westerly danger, the Bishop Rock.

This was one of the most hazardous and difficult sites for building a lighthouse. It's exposed to the full force of the Atlantic Ocean, with around 30 gales a year.  Now with a helipad on the top, getting people and equipment to and from the lighthouse is much easier than when it was built!