[citation needed] The site was surveyed by order of the Trinity Board in July 1844 with a design submitted that November and approved February 1845.

Designed by engineer James Walker[7] the two original lights, 'high' and 'low', were constructed under the supervision of Henry Norris[7] by builders Jacob & Thomas Olver of Falmouth.

[8][4][7] They were provided with a pair of first-order fixed optics by Henry Lépaute of Paris[7] and each had an oil lamp with 4 concentric wicks manufactured by Messrs. Wilkins & Co. of Long Acre.

[13] Work also began on installing a fog signal: a 5-inch siren attached to a 36-foot-long acoustic horn, which came into service in 1913; it was nicknamed 'Lord Rayleigh's trumpet' after its designer, the eminent physicist and acoustician.

In 1920 a paraffin vapour burner replaced the oil lamp; it continued to show one red flash every 5 seconds.

The fog signal equipment all remained in service until 1963, when the trumpet and siren were replaced by a set of eight 'supertyfon' air horns mounted in a metal turret on top of the engine house.