BEACHY HEAD, a promontory on the coast of Sussex; at the end of the South Downs, 2½ miles SSE of Eastbourne. Its summit has an altitude of 575 feet above sea-level; and commands a view from Hastings to the Isle of Wight, and across the channel to France. Its front and sea-skirts are precipitous, and pierced with caverns, the resort of multitudes of sea-fowl. Shipwrecks here and in the vicinity used to he frequent and dreadful; but have been less numerous since the erection of the Belle Toute lighthouse in 1831. This stands on a projecting skirt of the promontory; and shows a revolving light, at the height of 285 feet above the sea, flashing every 2 minutes, and visible at the distance of 22 miles. On the 30th of June, 1690, the combined English and Dutch fleets of 56 sail, under Lord Torrington, were defeated within sight of Beachy Head, by the French fleet of 82 sail, under the Count de Jourville.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))