Can You See the Fire Beacon?

Before mobile phones, radio and even the telegraph, fire beacons were used as an early warning system designed to alert communities to the approach of hostile forces. The beacons were deliberately positioned on prominent high ground, allowing one fire to be seen from another. When an enemy was spotted, a chain of burning beacons could then relay the warning across the landscape.The system was particularly important during the threat of invasion by the Spanish Armada in 1588. Beacons could take various forms, from simple bonfires to barrels of pitch or iron fire baskets mounted on tall wooden poles. Some were substantial enough to have permanent structures. My Hampshire Fire Beacons map explores how this historic warning network might have worked. It plots known and suspected beacon locations across Hampshire and allows you to investigate which sites could potentially have been visible to one another. It also uses elevation data to allow you to search for possible locations for any…

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