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The Belle Tout lighthouse at Beachy Head is
over 150 years old, and although it no longer works to warn
ships that the cliffs are close by, it's a famous landmark
with a peculiar history.
What the history here?
In the early 19th century a local rector was so distraught
by the death toll of unwitting mariners on the rocks below
Beachy Head that he made it his mission to single-handedly
carve out a chamber in the cliff face, connected to the beach
below by a tunnel and a staircase. Every night he hung his
lamp outside and lay awake, listening for the cries of shipwrecked
sailors. He saved the lives of at least 30 people, but sadly
the sea air did him no favours and he died of pneumonia.
Subsequently a local man named 'Mad Jack Fuller' constructed
a wooden lighthouse on the cliff top, which so successfully
diverted ships from the course of disaster that the decision
was made to build a permanent lighthouse in 1832.
The cliffs at Beachy Head are crumbing fast and in spring
1999 the present owner Mark Roberts saved the structure from
tumbling into the sea by moving it back from the cliff-edge.
What's there to see and do?
Belle Tout is the only lighthouse in private occupation in
Britain. Selected guests have the opportunity to spend the
night in the lighthouse and watch the sun set from the Lantern,
where the light used to be.
The coastal vistas from the top of Beachy Head are breathtaking,
though sadly some visitors don't come here just to admire
the view: the 300 ft high cliffs are the most popular suicide
spot in the world.
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