Willy Staveley strikes a pose with his sister and a group of young ladies on the beach with the Seaton low light as a backdrop in 1888.

A group with a dog sitting on the rocks enjoying the fresh air. The Seaton low light and part of the Staincliffe Villas provides a backdrop.

Cooper and his two friends play in a pool on the beach. Staincliffe Villa and the lowlight stand above them.

The Seaton Lowlight and Highlight Lighthouses were built in 1838 and opened in 1839. The latter was built by James Johnston, engineer to the Tees Navigation Company.

The Lowlight stood at the end of Queen Street near the Staincliffe. It displayed a red light. It was demolished between 1900 and 1902 during a road widening scheme to allow the coastal tramway to pass.

The Highlight displayed a fixed white light. It was originally situated 1,189 yards (1,087 m) inland at the end of Windermere Road in what is now the Longhill Industrial Estate. It was a 70 feet (21m) tall Tuscan column of sandstone with the base at a height of 89 feet (27 m) above mean high tide. It contained a newel helical stair lit by slit windows between the masonry blocks. Locals called it the Longhills Lighthouse. 

With the Lowlight gone it stood unused and was eventually surrounded by the Bachelor Robertson tin works which opened in 1916. It was made a listed Grade II building in 1985 due to its architectural significance. It was gifted to Hartlepool Borough Council (who hold it in the public trust) in 1995 and moved by the Teesside Development Corporation to its current site on Jacksons Landing.

Lowlights and Highlights were very important safety innovations in the 18^th and 19^th Century. The 1852  edition of The British and Foreign Coaster's Guide, by James Imray, stated:
"Two towers have been erected a short distance northward of Seaton Snook, on the shore behind the Long Scar Rocks, which exhibit fixed lights at 89 and 34 feet, above the sea. The buildings bear from each other, NW¾W and SE¾E, distant 1183 yards. The high light is of a bright, the low light of a red colour.
In approaching the River Tees from the southward, the best mark is Seaton lights in a line, bearing NW¾W, which may be used either in the day or night time, and which afford the safest offing off the Salt Scars, as it will carry you in about 11 to 14 fathoms to the northward of them."

The Lighthouse was built in 1838/39 on the Cliff above Longscar Rocks. Another lighthouse was erected at the same time at Longhill. Seaton light was known as the lowlight and the Longhill light was known as the highlight. From out at sea one light would shine above the other, warning the mariners of the dangers of the rocks.

This image shows the demolition of the lighthouse in 1900. There are certainly no health and safety regulations in place here. Note that there are even five females posing behind the demolished brickwork.

HHT&N 598

A sketch entitled 'Seaton old light and sand pit' by Thomas Thorpe was in Margaret Lawson's book that was in Pattison's collection.

Taken when still a private residence, Staincliffe Villas and the lighthouse can be seen to the right.

The villas were built about 1869 by Thomas Walker next to his house. The lowlight stands on the sea side of the track.

J Hogg and S Simpson posing in front of the villas. These buildings became big news when John Darwin faked his own death in 2002 and then reappeared alive and well in 2007. He and his wife had lived in one of these buildings and owned one next door in which Darwin hid after his 'death' until he could make his getaway.

Probably about 1880 this image shows the old sea wall and the relatively narrow roadway that was in place at the time. The houses were built for wealthy merchants who did not want to live in the hustle and bustle of Hartlepool and West Hartlepool. The Seaton low light can be seen at the back of the view.