Plans are being made to remove the Royal Sovereign lighthouse which was a familiar navigational mark for yachts off Britain’s east Sussex coast.
It is expected that it will take two years for marine contractors Herbosch-Kiere to complete the work, and the lantern tower may be retained in the local area for the community.
The lighthouse built at a cost of £1.5 million sterling was completed in 1971, and it replaced a lightship of the same name. The lightship had marked the Royal Sovereign shoal.
It was built in two parts on land, with a reinforced concrete supporting column placed in position first.
An upper deck/lantern with built-in accommodation for the keepers and a helicopter landing deck was added, and the column was raised to its full height.
The lighthouse was automated and converted to solar power in 1994.
Trinity House, responsible for lighthouses and navigational marks, announced in 2019 that the station was being decommissioned.
