Under the direction of Trinity House’s Engineer-in-Chief Sir James Douglass, the lighthouse was built on a large rock at the tip of the point; the lighthouse was threatened by the undermining action of the sea to such an extent that rock had to be broken from the cliff head behind the lighthouse to fall on the beach and form a barrier against the waves. Unfortunately this procedure had to be repeated at frequent intervals as the deposits were washed away whenever a North Westerly gale coincided with a high spring tide. Eventually it became necessary to construct a permanent barrier, and a sea wall 30 metres long and six metres high was built in 1925.
Prior to automation in 1984 the station was manned by four keepers who lived in dwellings attached to the lighthouse with their families. The dwellings were demolished when the station was demanned in order to allow for the construction of a helipad next to the tower. In 2012 the light was first exhibited from an alternative structure with the lighthouse building remaining a significant daymark.
The lighthouse is now monitored and controlled from Trinity House’s Planning Centre in Harwich, Essex.