Rossall Point Observation Tower stands on the sand dunes between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, a striking four-storey structure rising 46 feet above the shoreline. Completed in March 2013, the tower serves both as a beacon and as a public vantage point. It is designed by Studio Three Architects as part of Wyre Council’s £2.1 million Sea Change programme, which aims to revitalise the coastline through investment in facilities and attractions.
The tower’s second floor houses a base for the National Coastwatch Institution, supporting the monitoring of vessels and safety along the Fylde coast. At the very top, an open observation deck offers sweeping views in all directions — across the Irish Sea, over Morecambe Bay and inland to the distant Lakeland fells. The panorama attracts bird watchers, walkers and visitors eager to see the coastline from a new perspective.
The tower replaces an older structure built in 1948, which had long provided a viewing platform and served as a coastguard post. By the early 21st century that tower was no longer fit for purpose. Its roof platform was dismantled in early 2012 and its remains converted for use as public facilities. Construction of the new observation tower began in February of the same year, and with the removal of the Orange telecommunications mast that once stood alongside it, the site was reshaped for its new role.
Inside, the ground floor gallery is used by Wyre Council’s Coast and Countryside Rangers as an educational space. A live camera at the top of the tower provides images for visitors unable to climb the upper levels, ensuring the views can be shared by all.
Councillor Gordon McCann, cabinet member for economic development at Wyre Council, describes the tower as a distinctive landmark with stunning views. It now sits alongside Blackpool Tower as one of two modern observation points on the Lancashire coast. Earlier structures such as Morecambe Tower and the Polo Tower once offered similar experiences, but Rossall Point now provides Fleetwood and the wider Fylde with a beacon of renewal and a vantage point deeply connected to the landscape and seascape it surveys.
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