Souter Lighthouse
Local highlightThe red-and-white banded lighthouse on the cliffs near South Shields, the first in the world purpose-built to use alternating electric current
Open to visitorsa National Trust place — check opening times and admission before you go
Souter stands on the cliffs at Marsden, between South Shields and Sunderland, its tower painted in bold red and white bands. When it first shone in 1871 it was the first lighthouse in the world designed from the outset to use alternating electric current, a genuine leap at a time when most lights still burned oil. Trinity House ran it until it was switched off in 1988, and the National Trust looks after it now, opening the tower, the engine room and the keepers’ cottages to visitors. From the clifftop you can walk the coast to the sea stack of Marsden Rock and the sands at Marsden, with the King Charles III England Coast Path passing the door.
