St Ives

The main pier in St Ives is Smeaton's Pier is named after it's original designer, the civil engineer and renowned lighthouse builder John Smeaton, who was responsible for the design of several lighthouses around the United Kingdom, but none more famous than his light on the Eddystone reef, which became the first successful wave-washed tower ever, now relocated to Plymouth Hoe.

Smeaton designed the pier and old lighthouse that once stood at it's end, however in the early 1890s the pier was extended aproximately 90 meters, so a new light was required at it's end.

The new 9 meter high tower is an octagonal structure made of cast iron and is built to a prefabricated design practically identical to those at Mevagissey on the south coast, and Peel Breakwater on the Isle of Man.

Like several other cornish harbour lights, the structure is painted white with a black base. The tower tapers inwards towards the gallery level. There is an access door at the base of the tower, and the lantern is presumably reached via a ladder on the inside. Two porthole windows, one at a low level, and one near the top of the tapered section allow light inside. The lantern has a small hatch that gives access to the gallery, which is supported by triangular brackets. At some point the lighthouse had a weathervane, although this has been missing for several decades.

Two green lights are shone from the tower; one from the lantern and one from about half way down the front of the tower.