[2] First lit on 28 September 1900, the lighthouse was built to assist vessels passing through the Bristol Channel, and is a round brick tower painted white.

[3] The light is 67 metres (220 ft) above the high tide, and flashes 4 times every 15 seconds; the optic ('a 1st Order dioptric apparatus, eight panels in two groups of four, revolving on a motor driven mercury float pedestal')[4] was manufactured by Chance Brothers & Co.[5] and is very similar to that installed in Pendeen Lighthouse the same year.

[7] In 1906, the lighthouse was provided with an explosive fog signal,[8] which sounded once every five minutes and was actuated by an automatic clockwork firing mechanism.

[10] In its place, a triple-frequency electric fog signal was installed, sounding through a stack of thirty Tannoy speakers built on to the front of the lighthouse tower; because the lighthouse was not yet connected to mains electricity the 3,000 rpm alternator (which simultaneously generated alternating current of the three different frequencies required) was driven by a diesel engine.

[2] Lynmouth Foreland had always been an unpopular posting among lighthouse keepers, not least because (due to its position on a steep north-facing slope) the isolated compound never sees the sun except during the three months of high summer.