B  e  l  l  e    T  o  u  t
L  i  g  h  t  h  o  u  s  e

Photo by Peter Carter of Crawley

Belle Tout   (* see below)
Time was found in Jack's chaotic lifestyle for more serious pursuits. One being the inspiration behind the building of Belle Tout Lighthouse in 1832. This magnificent building was to come to the public's notice in the 1980's when it featured in a BBC television series of the adaptation of Fay Weldon's, "Life and Loves of a She Devil". Once the dust had settled on this - and indeed the series, the scene of the fornicating vicar at an orgy, was not well received by some people - the building once again shot into the media, when it was moved .


The reason behind this was that it was getting closer and closer to the cliff edge, on account of cliff erosion.
When the structure was built it was placed in a specific position with respect to the cliff edge. The way this worked was that if the boat was in the shadow cast by the cliff, and thus unable to see the light, then it was too close to the rocks. Steady cliff erosion (** see below) over the years made this feature non-existent, and by the late nineties it was 3m from the edge, meaning it would have actually illuminated the beach itself, had it still be in use.
The lighthouse was in fact de-commissioned way back in 1902, as due to the heavy sea mists in this area- see photograph- its light often wasn't visible ,not a handy feature for a lighthouse!

Target Practice
During the 1940's it became a handy target for the navy to shoot at in practice, despite the fact that there was actually a war on at the time, and therefore no shortage of more hostile targets had they wanted them.
Fortunately it was rescued from oblivion by the Cullinan family who owned it from 1955 to <1980, and during this time restored it to its former self.

After Fay Weldon's, 'She Devil', had finished cavorting around with the vicar, Mark and Louise Roberts bought the structure, and eventually had it moved back 17m from the cliff edge. For an account of how this was achieved see this: Link to the BBC  .


One of the Cullinan family who owned it after the war, Joy Cullinan - then 93, was able to witness this engineering miracle.


Go here for a listing of Mad Jack's Follies   




* Belle  (Bael Celtic god of war)    Tout  (lookout)

** The cliff has eroded as much as 0.4 metres a year up to the present - 2001

Co-Ords: 556350 095520 / TV 563955   

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