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