From 1900 to 1902, under the direction of Sir Thomas Matthews, the Trinity House Engineer-in-Chief, Beachy Head Lighthouse was built, sited about 165 metres seawards from the base of the cliffs.

For the construction, a temporary cable car from the cliff was installed for the transport of workers and stones to an iron ocean platform adjacent to the lighthouse.

The lighthouse was equipped with a first-order revolving catadioptric optic made up of three double panels, giving two white flashes every 20 seconds;[6] the lightsource was a Matthews-designed paraffin vapour burner.

The newly built lighthouse was also provided with an explosive fog signal, which was sounded every five minutes in foggy weather; it involved the keepers attaching a small explosive charge together with a detonator to each arm of a jib located on the gallery of the lighthouse; when winched into place, connection was made with a dynamo-electric firing machine inside the lantern, from where the charge was remotely fired.

[5] In June 2010, Trinity House announced in the five yearly "Aids To Navigation Review" that the light range would be reduced to 8 nmi (15 km; 9.2 mi) and the fog signal discontinued.

Trinity House announced in 2011 that it could no longer afford to repaint the distinctive red and white stripes and that it would have to be left to return to its natural granite grey.