Oldest open-sea lighthouse still in use

Bell Rock Lighthouse was built by British civil engineer Robert Stevenson and completed in 1811 on Bell Rock, a small 130 m x 70 m sandstone reef some 18 km (11 mi) off the east coast of Scotland, UK. The lighthouse is built from granite and sandstone and measures 35.3 m (116 ft) from its foundation to the top of its lightroom. Bell Rock Lighthouse has been operational since 1 February 1811 and was automated in 1988.

Cordouan Lighthouse in the Gironde Estuary of western France, which was built in 1611, is the oldest active lighthouse in France. While situated some 7 km (4.3 mi) off the coast, it sits on a small island in a tidal zone where at low tide large sand banks and a manmade causeway are exposed providing access from the land, so technically it is not permanently surrounded by the sea. It is, however, arguably the oldest offshore lighthouse still in use.

The first open-sea lighthouse was the original Eddystone Lighthouse built from wood in 1696-98 off southern England, on a shallow reef known as the Eddystone Rocks, by Henry Winstanley. It was destroyed in the Great Storm of 1703. The second iteration, built by John Rudyard also from wood, was completed in 1709 before being burned down in 1755. The third lighthouse on this site was designed by civil engineer John Smeaton and was this time constructed from granite between 1756 and 1759. Smeaton's lighthouse was operational until 1882 (the final iteration which remains to this day was completed in 1881) with the upper section relocated to the nearby city of Plymouth to be added to a lighthouse-shaped monument (Smeaton's Tower) in tribute to the celebrated local engineer.