Explore the Hurst Lighthouses

International Lighthouse Heritage Weekend (ILHW) is a time set aside to promote awareness of all Aids to Navigation (AtoN), which include lighthouses, lightvessels and buoys. Over this particular weekend, as many lighthouses as possible will be opened to the general public, not only in the UK but also throughout the world.

International Lighthouse Heritage Weekend will be held at Hurst Point Lighthouse on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th August 2017.

The event spans the whole of the weekend and, at Hurst Point lighthouse, which is located by Hurst Castle at the end of the shingle spit, will be celebrated on both Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th August. 

On each day, members of the Association of Lighthouse Keepers (ALK) will be available in the ALK Museum Rooms at the far end of the west wing to answer visitors’ questions. 

Tours will be provided giving explanations of all the five lights at Hurst Point and how the acetylene gas was made and used to light the lamps in both the tall lighthouse and also the steel lighthouse on top of the castle wall. One tour will take place mid-morning and another mid-afternoon on both days. The tours are free of charge but a small donation towards the upkeep of the Lighthouse Museum within the castle would be very much appreciated. It is regretted that the lighthouse tower will not be open due to health and safety reasons.

Both the ALK Lighthouse Museum and the Trinity House exhibition rooms within the castle will be open on both days but normal entrance fees to the castle will apply. Light refreshments will be available from the Castle café on both days.

Travel to the Castle on the ferry [at Cost] – first ferry at 10.20am - or you can walk to the Castle via the 1½ miles long shingle spit.

Entry to the Castle is at cost. Free to members of English Heritage or the Friends of Hurst Castle

Lighthouse tours are free and start from the Lighthouse Museum at the far end of the West Wing in the castle.

There will be two tours each day at 11.30am and 14.30pm. (Tours will include the Acetylene Room but regrettable NOT the lighthouse itself due to health and safety reasons.

Over this same weekend the Christchurch Amateur Radio Society will be operating within the castle as part of the International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend (ILLW). This is also a worldwide event where attempts are made to communicate by radio with as many lighthouses as possible. So why not visit the castle to see, first‑hand, just how many contacts have been made.

If you would like to know more about lighthouses and the ALK during this weekend, then please contact the ALK Hurst Castle Project Manager, Keith Morton, at hurst@alk.org.uk or on 01329-843883. Also, take a look at the ALK website www.alk.org.uk.