A network of flaming tributes to the Queen will stretch throughout the country on Thursday.

Beacons marking the Platinum Jubilee will be lit at 9.45pm at sites including the Tower of London, Windsor Great Park, Hillsborough Castle and the Queen’s estates of Sandringham and Balmoral, along with the tops of the UK’s four highest peaks.

The first beacons will be lit in Tonga and Samoa in the South Pacific, and the final one in the central American country of Belize.

The principal beacon outside the Palace – a 21-metre-tall Tree of Trees sculpture for the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative – will be illuminated by a senior member of the royal family, and images will be projected on to the Palace.

 

The history of jubilee beacons

Lighting beacons to celebrate Royal Jubilees, Weddings and Coronations is a long-held tradition.

The flaming displays might appear on top of mountains, church and cathedral towers, castle battlements, on town and village greens, country estates, parks and farms, along beaches and on cliff tops.

In 1897, beacons were lit to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. In 1977, 2002 and 2012, beacons commemorated the Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees of The Queen, and in 2016 Her Majesty’s 90th birthday.

On Thursday, there are four types of beacons being lit:

  • A free-standing beacon fuelled by bottle gas
  • A beacon brazier with a metal shield
  • A bonfire beacon
  • Bishops Frome Strawman

Platinum Jubilee beacons in Hampshire

Andover Advertiser: Lewis Wilde tests of one of the gas-fuelled beacons he has made which will be used to signal the start of Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee. Picture: PALewis Wilde tests of one of the gas-fuelled beacons he has made which will be used to signal the start of Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee. Picture: PA

Charlton Parish Council - Charlton Leisure Park, Charlton Road, Andover

Overton Parish Council - Sapley Lane Playing Field, Overton

Crabtree Plantation - London Rd, Old Basing

Binley Farms - Binley, Andover

St Mary's Church - Church Memorial Garden, Andover

Wellington Estate – Wellington Estate, Stratfield Saye

Fareham Borough Council and English Heritage – Porchester Castle

Hythe Marina Association – The Bund, Hythe Marina

Bramley Parish Council – Clift Meadow Park, Bramley

Portsmouth City Council – Fort Widley and Southsea Castle

Binley Farms – Binley, Andover

Sherfield on Loddon Village Green Volunteers – Village Green, Sherfield on Loddon, Hook

Hound Parish Council – Cricket Field, Netley Abbey, Southampton

Damerham Parish Council – Damerham

St Mary Bourne Village Centre - St Mary Bourne Village Centre, Andover

Pamber Parish Council – Pamber Park, Pamber Heath, Tadley

West End Parish Council – Hatch Grange, West End, Southampton

Liss Parish Council – Liss Junior School

Corhampton and Meonstoke Parish Council – Pondside Farm, Meonstoke

Copythorne Jubilee 2022 Working Group, Copythorne Parish Hall Committee and 2nd New Forest North (Stanley's Own) Scout Group – Stanley's Own Scout Headquarters, Romsey Road, Copythorne, Southampton

Mapledurwell and Nately Parish Council and Village Hall - Newnham Road, Basingstoke

Clanfield Parish Council – Top Green, Clanfield

Breamore Estate Co Ltd – Giants Grave Field, Breamore, Fordingbridge

Thruxton Parish Council – Three Villages Sports Field, Thruxton, Andover

Fair Oak and Horton Heath Parish Council – Trigonometrical Point, Knowle Park, Fair Oak, Eastleigh

Vernham Dean Parish Council – Fosbury Hill Fort, Vernham Dean

The National Museum Of The Royal Navy – HMS Warrior Jetty, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, Portsmouth

Wield Parish Council – The Village Green, Weild, Alresford

Odiham Parish Council – Odiham Beacon, Odiham

Beaulieu Estate – The Mill Pond, Beaulieu

Catherington Village Residents Association – All Saint's Church, Catherington, Waterlooville

Harting Parish Council – Harting Down, Harting

Allbrook Parish Council – Otterbourne Common, Otterbourne

Matterley Estate – Cheesefoot Head

Hampshire County Council – Buster Hill, Queen Elizabeth Country Park, South Downs

Calshot Tower NCI Unit – Calshot Castle, Calshot

Stone Point NCI Unit – Lepe Park, Stone Point

Hampshire County Council – Lepe Country Park, Lepe, Exbury

Fawley Parish Council – Gang Warily Recreation Centre, Fawley, Southampton

Ewshot Parish Council – Ewshot

Burley Good Neighbours and Burley Parish Council – Manor Park, Burley, Ringwood