Plymouth, Lands End

Welcome to Plymouth Hoe.

That might sound like an outdated piece of farm equipment, but if you're interested in 18th-century working buildings, Smeaton's Tower is a must-see. Construction began in 1757, and the 24 candles that warned oncoming sea traffic of the dangerous Eddystone Reef - rocks so dangerous that sailing via the Channel Islands or even the French coast was seen as preferable to a possible collision - were lit for the first time in October 1759. No ordinary candles, these were monsters that weighed anything up to 2.3 kilos and needed chiming clocks beside them to remind the lighthouse keeper of the need to replace them.

The sea had other ideas, by the mid-1800s, it had started to erode the ground around the lighthouse - in fact, it would shake every time a big wave hit. The upper two-thirds of the building was removed and relocated to its current location at Plymouth Hoe, where it currently not only offers amazing views of the surrounding area but is available for hire as a venue for civil wedding ceremonies.

Just proving that the Yorkshire-born designer, John Smeaton, built things to last, the stump of the old lighthouse can still be seen out on the Eddystone Reef.