[3] The metal white-painted lighthouse[4] was built by Trinity House to guide shipping in the Severn Estuary as it made its way in and out of Bristol Harbour.

Before the light was decommissioned the lens array (a rotating fourth-order 250 mm biform optic) flashed twice every ten seconds.

[3] To begin with it displayed an occulting light (eclipsed twice in quick succession every twenty seconds) with a visible range of 11 nautical miles (20 km; 13 mi).

[8] Its drive mechanism was wound daily by the Ashford Family, on whose land it was built, until 1941 when the light was converted to automatic electric operation.

[11] The official handover took place the following January,[10] and later that year the lenses (which had been removed along with other equipment as part of the decommissioning) were returned to the lantern on a ten-year loan from Trinity House.