James Walker designed Start Point Lighthouse in 1836 and it owes much to the gothic movement in architecture of the time, with its battlemented parapet. Two white lights were originally exhibited, one revolving and one fixed to mark the Skerries Bank; a fixed red subsidiary light still marks this hazard. The optic used was the first of its kind used by Trinity House.

Even so, the light was found to be inadequate in fog and a bell was installed in the 1860s; the machinery was housed in a small building on the cliff face and operated by a weight which fell in a tube running down the sheer cliff. A siren replaced the bell after only 15 years.

In 1871 the intermediate floors of the tower of 1836 were removed and extra accommodation provided in common with all Trinity House stations.

Coastal erosion caused the collapse of the fog signal building in December 1989; the site was levelled, a new retaining wall built and a free standing fog signal stack put in place.

The lighthouse was automated in 1993. The lighthouse is now monitored and controlled from Trinity House’s Planning Centre in Harwich, Essex.