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Tyne Lighthouses

The River Tyne has three fully functional lighthouses supporting safe navigation for shipping. One is on Tynemouth Pier, one on South Shields Pier and the third is the Herd Groyne lighthouse at South Shields.

Tynemouth lighthouse is the tallest at 26 metres, emitting a white navigation light that over-arches the horizon for 26 miles. Its lens rotates every 10 seconds with 3 white flashes as the foghorn of the tower gives one blast every 10 seconds to aid with navigation during times of reduced visibility.

The South Shields lighthouse is 15 metres high with white, red and green navigational lights that reach distances of 13, 9 and 8 miles respectively.

Within the entrance of the harbour also stands Herd Groyne, a unique, bright red lighthouse at 13 metres tall.

Together with the navigational buoys, the Tynemouth, South Shields and Herd Groyne lighthouses are fully functioning and operated by Port of Tyne as a navigational aid for ships approaching and entering the River Tyne.    

Tynemouth Lighthouse Leaflet

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