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The Roman Pharos or lighthouse is situated
on the summit of the hill within the line of the late Saxon earthwork.
It stands at the west end of the church. The structure rises in five stages
of which the uppermost is medieval. This bears a shield which has been
attributed, though with some doubt, to Sir Richard de Pembridge, Constable
of the Castle in 1369, a date in keeping with the simple trefoiled head
of the windows.
The four lower stages are Roman and are built of flint rubble originally
cased in tufa ashlar with tile bonding courses. The masonry contains no
reused materials and none of the tiles examined bears the stamp of the
British Fleet (Classis Britannica). The structure is octagonal in plan
with walls of diminishing thickness enclosing a chamber 14 feet square.
The present battered appearance of the exterior is due partly to decay,
partly to medieval refacing.
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