Land lighthouse

The Dunston Pillar, a former land lighthouse in Lincolnshire, England

The original appearance of Dunston Pillar from Bartholomew Howlett's A Selection of Views in the County of Lincoln (1801)

A land lighthouse is simply a lighthouse constructed to aid navigation over land, rather than water. Historically, they were constructed in areas of flatland where the featureless landscape and prevailing weather conditions (e.g. winter fog) might cause travellers to become easily disorientated and lost. In such a landscape a high tower with a bright lantern could be visible for many miles.

One example of such a structure is Dunston Pillar, an 18th-century tower built to help travellers crossing the heathland of mid-Lincolnshire and to lessen the danger to them from highwaymen.

Due to general improvements in transport and navigation throughout the 19th century, land lighthouses became almost totally obsolete as aids to travellers in remote places.