The earliest reference to a light being shown from Vincent Pier is from 1804, and by 1806 it is definitively described as having a lighthouse on it, designed and built by a surveyor named Nixon: a circular brick building with a flat roof, on top of which is a coal-fired brazier.

[4] Before long, the brazier was removed and the light was instead provided by six tallow candles, placed in a light-room within the tower, from which they were displayed through an oblong window.

The following year, a new lantern room was added and within it the latest form of Bude-Light was installed, fed by a connection to the town's gas works.

[3] The last shot fired at the town hit the centre of the lighthouse; while the shell did not explode, it caused sufficient structural damage to leave the tower highly unstable.

After the war, the Scarborough Townsmen's Guild sought donations from the public to cover the cost of the repairs; they eventually raised £2,225 in this way, and on 22 December 1931 the rebuilt lighthouse was relit.