On a stormy night in 1750 - or so the legend goes - a sailor's wife lit a candle in the window of her home at Burnham-on-Sea to guide her husband home.

From his tiny vessel, far out in the Bristol Channel, the seaman saw the signal and it guided him safely back to Burnham - through raging seas. The Bristol Channel has the second greatest tidal range of any stretch of water in the world and can be extremely dangerous.

In the 1700's it is estimated 2,000 boats used the River Parrett each day to load and unload cargo from Bridgwater Bay. Their route was surrounded by treacherous sand-banks.

After hearing the story of the candle in the window', seamen agreed to pay the woman a levy to keep the light burning:

Coasting Vessels paid 3/-, British Ships 5/- and Foreign Ships 10/-.

A local curate the Rev. David Davies realised immediately there was money to be made. The church sexton was sent to buy the business from the old woman for the vast sum of 5 pounds. She died a wealthy widow.

The good' Reverend lit a beacon on the roof of the St Andrew's church tower. He later built a 4-storey round tower next to the church – This became Burnham's first lighthouse – the remains of which still stand to this day.

In 1813 Rev Davies negotiated Trinity House – Britain's official lighthouse Authority chartered by Henry VIII in 1514 – a 100 year lease to continue his commercial enterprises. In return he paid them135 pounds each year.

By 1830 Trinity House decided to buy-back the remaining 85 years of the lease agreement and paid Rev Davies # 13,681, 17S 3d. Perhaps he conveniently forgot having taken a vow of poverty at this time?

Trinity House asked Joseph Nelson to designed and built Burnham High Lighthouse, on the sand dunes. He later designed the low lighthouse on the beach.

Joseph Nelson used wooden scaffold poles, ropes and pulleys, employing strong men to heave the massive blue stone blocks eight storeys into the air.

It is hardly surprising at least one labourer is known to have fallen to his death while building the lighthouse tower. If you listen carefully, his ghostly moans are still to be heard on stormy nights!

It is almost certain Isambard Kingdom Brunel would have visited the build in person at some stage in its progress.

The reckless engineer' was after all only a few miles away in Bristol designing giant ocean-going steam ships like the SS Great Britain, SS Great Eastern in between construction projects including the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the GWR line – God's Wonderful Railway.

Originally the lighthouse tower was equipped with a paraffin lamp – the old oil store can still be seen in the back garden of one of the keeper's cottages.

The lighthouse itself was heated by coal fires. Early photographs show it once had two chimneys and an elaborate weather vane on the roof and the many postcards prove it was a popular tourist attraction.

List of Past Keepers

At the same time the lower lighthouse on stilts (still in service today) was built on the beach in front of the high lighthouse to compliment the signal at low tide.

It is painted in the same distinctive livery, white with a vertical red stripe.

Burnham High Lighthouse became the first lighthouse in Britain to be automated back in the 1920's. At that time the two keeper's jobs became redundant. Their cottages and much of the surrounding land was sold-off by Trinity House to become private dwellings.

In 1992 it was decided a decrease in shipping traffic meant the High Lighthouse could itself be sold. It was bought by a member of the Rothschild family from Trinity House in a sealed bid.

In 1996 Burnham High Lighthouse was put-up for auction by the Rothschilds. A young journalist called Patrick O'Hagan was dispatched by his editor to find a story. It was rumoured at least one celebrity and another pop star were interested in buying it. But the lighthouse didn't sell and the journalist didn't have a story. So – like all good investigative reporters – he followed his instincts. He obtained the keys and traveled to see it for himself. He fell in love with the lighthouse, blinded by romance and his love for his fiancée Jill Berryman! They bought the lighthouse, had two wonderful children, Daisy & Max……… and the rest, as they say, is history.

Over the centuries Burnham's guiding lighthouses and brave lifeboat crews have saved many lives.

If you stroll along the beach towards Berrow you will eventually reach the skeletal remains of the SS Nornen – a Norwegian wooden barque – which was shipwrecked on March 2nd 1897:

In a savage gale and snow storm the boat lost it's anchorage in the shelter of Lundy Island. The wooden sailing boat, her crew of 11 men and the ship's dog were swept upstream onto the mud flats and sandbanks of Bream.

An incredible rescue unfolded. Ten oarsmen in a clinker-built wooden lifeboat from Burnham battled against mountainous seas to pluck the entire crew (and the ship's dog) to safety. The following day attempts to re-float the crippled vessel failed. Her sails were like rags. The remains of the dead ship are still perfectly preserved in the sand like a giant wooden rib-cage.

She's well worth a visit, but please heed the warning signs on the beach and stay clear of the sand banks. The lifeboat crews and beach hovercraft which operate today are busy enough without us adding to their workload!