Within its one and a half square miles Lundy has no less than forty-one Scheduled Monuments as well as a clutch of Listed Buildings.
The buildings and monuments on Lundy considered of national importance are incredibly diverse, ranging from the remains of Bronze Age settlements, early Christian grave markers, a Medieval castle, a Georgian lighthouse, the Victorian Church of St Helen and much, much more.
For first-time visitors arriving by boat the journey of historical discovery begins as soon they as they start up the Beach Road. In true Lundy fashion the whitewashed block of granite, engraved with “T : H Landing Place 1819”, carries with it no explanation. But for the inquisitive a little research reveals that this is the marker of Trinity House from when the first lighthouse was built.
Researching forward leads to why the Old Light was abandoned, the building of the Fog Signal Battery on the West Side, the construction of the two “new” lighthouses and the reason why the road to the North End is bordered on one side by equidistant granite blocks.
Every discovery leads to another and for those interested in the buildings and monuments it’s best to consider one aspect of the Island at a time.