There has been a harbour at the mouth of the Adur since Roman times. The safe entry to the current harbour is marked by the lighthouse, known as Kingston Buci or Shoreham lighthouse.


The building dates from 1842. It was lit initially by oil lamps, but in the 1880s the lighthouse was modernised and the quality and strength of the light improved using new dioptric glass gas lamps. Britain became famous for the manufacture of dioptric glass and exported it around the world during the next hundred years