Local History: The Daymark Tower

Dartmouth’s landscape is full of direct links to our town’s heritage, so whether you sit and look at the view around you, drive up to coastal promontories or walk the numerous footpaths, you can’t avoid our heritage. One of the icon buildings is the Daymark Tower.

Finding Dartmouth Harbour

From miles out to sea you can see a tower on the hill above Kingswear – also visible from the Dartmouth side of the harbour. This is the Daymark, an 80ft (24m) high octagonal tower that was built in 1864. The Tower was erected by local landowner, Charles Seale Hayne, who was a founder member of the Dartmouth Harbour Commission. The Commission’s main aim was to improve access to and facilities in Dartmouth Harbour. Seale Hayne leased arable land at the top of the hill in order to build a tower as a day beacon, guiding shipping to the harbour which was considered to be difficult to navigate at the time.

The tower was built with archways on each side, forming 8 pillars, which means that at every angle sunlight streams through. Standing in the middle of the tower you can also look up at the sky through the top.