By the 1600’s Dungeness was a huge foreland of shingle, extensive enough to cause numerous shipwrecks, with much loss of life and cargo.

It is thought that a Rye Jeweller , John Allen, first suggested a warning light be set up on the point, but he lacked the necessary funds, and the idea eventually took effect in 1615, under the direction of Sir Edward Howard, who held senior office in the Admiralty. The first lighthouse was 35 feet high and had a coal brazier at the top, the fuel being hauled up by a basket and pulley.

Ships passing the point were expected to pay a halfpenny for every ton, but this was difficult to collect, so Sir Edward made over his rights officially to William Lamplough, and dues were collected by Customs when ships docked.

In 1635 Lamplough replaced the rather ineffectual light by a tower 110 feet high, built nearer the sea. This also had a coal beacon, and the two keepers, who were provided with living quarters at the base of the lighthouse, had to haul the 400 tons of coa1 annually up the tower to keep the light burning. This proved to be a problem during strong gales.

The lighthouse was eventually inherited by the wife of Thomas Coke of Holkham, Norfolk, and the ownership remained in the Coke family but run by Lydd men, until Trinity House bought out all the leases of the lighthouses in 1836.

Wyatt’s lighthouse used 900 gallons of oi1 annually, coming from sperm oil, then vegetable oil and finally petroleum, but to prevent the oil from congealing in winter, a coal stove was necessary. This third lighthouse had 17 Argon lamps each with silvered concave reflectors 20 inches in diameter.

However by 1818 the foundations were threatened by decomposition, as the mortar had been mixed with seawater. Strong buttresses had to be erected round the base, and after a violent storm in 1821 other repairs had to be made to strengthen the tower.