On the lofty summit of this hill, one Walter de Godyton, in 1323, erected a chantry, and dedicated it to St. Catherine, who, in the Roman Hagiology, is the invariable patroness of hills and mountains. He also provided an endowment for a priest, who should chant masses, and keep up a burning light through the hours of darkness, for the safety of mariners approaching this dangerous coast. This duty was regularly performed until the suppression of the minor religious houses, when the priest and his endowment disappeared; though the chantry, built of solid masonry, remained, and is still to be inspected by the curious. Many years ago it was carefully repaired, in consideration of its value as a landmark. The foundation of the whole chapel was then cleared and levelled, a process revealing not only its ground-plan, but also the floor and stone hearth of the priest’s little cell at the south-west corner. Its height is 35 feet 6 inches; its form, octagonal. Almost adjoining stands the shell of a lighthouse erected in 1785 by the Trinity Board; but discontinued when it was discovered, as might at the outset have been surmised, that the mists so often gathering about the crown of the hill would render it of little service. The dangerous character of the coast, however, was so widely known, that the Trinity Board felt it necessary to provide for its better protection, and in 1838 a lighthouse was commenced on _St. Catherine’s Point_, at the base of the hill, which was completed in 1840, and lighted for the first time on the 25th of March. Its dimensions are:—From the water-mark to the level of terrace, 81 feet. From the terrace to the top of the stone-work, 100 feet. Height of lantern and pedestal, 1 foot 6 inches. Extension of glass frame, 10 feet. Roof, ball, vane, and lightning conductor, 11½ feet. Height of tower, 122 feet. The diameter of the interior is 14 feet; and the staircase to the lantern-room numbers one hundred and fifty-two steps. The illuminating apparatus consists of one lamp, 3½ inches diameter, with four concentrated wicks, reflected through a lens surmounted by two hundred and fifty mirrors. St. Catherine’s lighthouse is a graceful structure, and the visitor, comparing it with the rude chantry on the brow of the hill, where the solitary priest muttered his orisons and fed his flickering fire, will obtain a vivid conception of the vast strides made by practical science in five centuries. * * * * * A graphic writer[47] describes the extreme south-western point of England, the Land’s End, in the following language:—