By Captain W.R. Chaplin, C.B.E. Extract from Thurrock Local History Reprints No.1 Purfleet, compiled by I.G.Sparks and published by Thurrock Public Libraries, 1963.

In August 1828 the Trinity House resolved to build on the Thameside, within easy reach of London, a lighthouse for carrying out experiments with the various types of lamps and reflectors then being invented or improved upon by various makers, as well as a newly invented French lamp and polyzonal lens, and also to ascertain the relative value of whale oil, spermaceti and seal oil, or mixtures of them, the only illuminant then available.

For the reason of distant visibility Beacon Hill, Purfleet was considered a desirable situation, and in September negotiations were entered into with the Agent of W.H.Whitbread, Esq., who owned a large estate at Purfleet which included the whole of the high ground there. The Agent offered a quarter of an acre, at a rental which was considered excessive by the then standard of values, and declined; however, when Mr. Whitbread learned that the ground was required for "so interesting and public a nature" he at once said he was willing to lease the ground for no more than a nominal rent, on the understanding that no damage was done and no inconvenience given to any of his tenants. Also, that should the Trinity House desire to retain the land for purposes other than experimental the subject of an annual rental might then be considered. This was accepted and construction of the lighthouse commenced at once.

Beacon Hill derived its name from the beacon which was set up there centuries ago as a warning in time of national danger, and subsequently became one of a chain of signal stations from London along the Thames to Shoeburyness and thence to East Mersea, Clacton, Walton Naze and Harwich, for conveying signals to the Naval Fleets. A similar chain of signal stations existed between London and Portsmouth. They were used in 1795 when once again the Country was threatened with invasion, and probably throughout the War which continued with only a brief break for the next twenty years. Thereafter, during the long years of peace, the telegraph cable replaced the ancient method of communication.

The lighthouse and residence attached to it which was built there was of the same type and design as several of the Corporation's early nineteenth century ones, such as those at Pakefield and Winterton and elsewhere, none of which now survive. It appears to have been used only very occasionally and the residence only occupied at such times, as in 1830 Mr. Whitbread's Agent wrote acknowledging receipt of a duplicate key to the Lighthouse and acceding to the Corporation's request to appoint a person to visit the premises, occasionally and see that no depredations were committed.

As already described, it was on the highest part of Mr. Whitbread's estate; in his adjoining chalk pits a considerable part of the population of Purfleet found employment. The area had been worked for a great many years, but in the early part of the nineteenth century Whitbread greatly increased the output by "laying iron railings" to replace the horses and drays for conveying the chalk and coal to the kilns and for delivering lime to the barges at the riverside. An engraving of the lighthouse by W.Bartlett was published in 1832 and reproduced in Wrights "History of Essex". It shows how near the chalk workings had reached at that time. They must have been then diverted however as it was the better part of a century before Beacon Hill was finally swept away by further chalk workings.

In May 1829 experiments were carried out for comparison of seven Argand lamps with reflectors of an improved type, and a French lamp having concentric burner and a French lens. The respective lights were observed from on board the Corporation’s Yacht, and again from their Buoy Wharf at Blackwall, when the Elder Brethren were accompanied by several Officers of the Royal Engineers, whose report was the subject of a paper read before the Royal Society on the 4th May, 1836. That a light at Purfleet could then be seen from the riverside at Blackwall is some indication of how open and free from buildings the riverside was at that period.

Other experiments of interest were made in May 1833 with naptha gas, with a view to introducing it as an illuminant, but neither the Trinity House nor the Commissioners of Northern Lights, who were equally interested in the experiments appear to have considered the advantages outweighed the dangers from the naptha gas as it was never adopted for lighthouse use.

In 1840, and continuing into 1841, many experiments were carried out by members of the Corporation together with Professor Faraday, who a few years earlier had been appointed by them as their professional advisor, to determine the comparative advantages of reflecting and refracting apparatus, the comparative value of reflectors of English and French manufacture, the quality of glass, and of the oils used in France and in this country. Unfortunately, the reports of these various experiments have been lost.

With the great improvements subsequently made in lighting apparatus and the introduction of petroleum oil in place of the vegetable oil which had succeeded whale oil, comparative experiments became less and less necessary, and finally ended. It is not known when the lighthouse was abandoned by the Corporation, all nineteenth century correspondence having been lost in the destruction of the Trinity House in 1940. It appears however, to have been just before or soon after 1870. The first edition of the Admiralty North Sea Pilot part 4 (1863) which includes directions for navigating the Thames, says that, "On rising land called Beacon Hill, Purfleet, there is a flagstaff and a small circular lighthouse used by Trinity House for experiments", and this is repeated in the Second edition in 1871. It does not, however, appear in the Third and Fourth editions, 1879 and 1887, and evidently the tower had been abandoned about the time indicated above, although it is not clear as to why it did not continue to be mentioned as a prominent landmark.

When abandoned by Trinity House it had no other purpose and was left to deteriorate and eventually disintegrate. Some remains of it are said to have survived until 1925, and the site was used by an anti﷓aircraft about battery in the 1914﷓18 War, but in more recent times the buff where it stood has been swept away by continued excavations for chalk. The old lighthouse, in its ruined state, has been the subject of articles in several journals by writers more disposed towards a romantic story than to historical facts, some describing it as remains of the old fire beacon of Tudor times. One writer has "hazarded the view" that the lighthouse was a signal station used by the East India Company for signaling the arrival of their ships. Another suggested that it was an early aid in navigating the River; heedless of the fact that in such a position a light would be of no aid to the mariner. When told and retold its halo of antiquity increases despite the notation on the Admiralty charts, and Bartlett's engraving of it, which in itself dates it within a few years.