HOLIDAY HOME SENDS A CLEAR SIGNAL

T here are plenty of property brochures that promise ‘secluded homes for sale with spectacular views’. But often the superlatives don’t match the reality. And then there is this, a former Lloyd’s Signal Tower on the Cornish coast. It offers what must be the most spectacular sea views in the UK, and a few (famous) neighbours.

The clifftop property has a rich history. Built in 1872, its flag staff was used to mount semaphore flags to communicate orders to passing ships from their owners. The orders were sent to the signallers within the tower from London via telegraph.

Its service proved to be so popular that signallers at one point sent 1,000 messages a month to passing ships. And Lloyd’s Signal Tower gets its name from insurer Lloyds of London which took the building over in 1883. But the seeds of its demise were being sewn next door in two wooden huts. There Guglielmo Marconi was hard at work developing the first long-dis- tance radio transmissions.

Lloyd’s Signal Tower ceased its flag semaphore operations in 1969 and is now owned by the National Trust.

The castellated tower has been converted into a luxury four-bedroom holiday home and is at Bass Point, just along the coast from Lizard Point.

It is available on a 76-year lease for £695,000 via agent Savills Cornwall (01872 243200).