ROYAL SOVEREIGN LIGHT
Construction of Royal Sovereign light on East Side beach 1969/71
By John Hills
This lighthouse was completed in 1971 and replaced a light vessel which had marked the Royal Sovereign Shoal in the English Channel south of Eastbourne, the first light marking this area was installed in 1875.
The new light building was made of a concrete construction and built in two sections on the Eastside beach at Newhaven. The base and vertical pillar section were floated into position and sunk on to a levelled area of the sea bed and the upper cabin section and superstructure were then floated over the pillar section.
The pillar had an inner telescopic section which, when attached to the cabin, was jacked up to about 13 metres and locked into position. The underside of the cabin is well above the maximum wave height and the navigation light is 28 metres above sea level.
The cabin section contained accommodation for the keepers who manned the lighthouse before its automation in 1994. The flat upper deck of the cabin section provides a helicopter landing platform.
Royal Sovereign construction site
M. W. Hills