A network of flaming tributes to the Queen will stretch throughout the country on Thursday, here are the ones on your doorstep in Wiltshire.

Beacons marking the Platinum Jubilee will be lit at 9.45 pm 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.


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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.

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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 Wiltshire

Swindon 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

  • Old Sarum
  • Maiden Bradley with Yarnfield
  • Amesbury Town Council
  • Netheravon Parish Council
  • Little Somerford Parish Council. Latton Parish Council - Playing Field, Latton
  • Melksham Town Council
  • Devizes Town Council – Roundway Hill, The Plantation, Devizes
  • Winterslow Parish Council – Winterslow Recreation Ground, Winterslow
  • All Cannings Parish Council – Cliffords Hill, All Cannings
  • Steeple Langdord Parish Council, Steeple Langford
  • West Tisbury Parish Council - Newtown, West Tisbury
  • Burbage Parish Council – Far Lash Open Space, Farlash, Burbage
  • Ham Parish Council – Ham, Marlborough
  • Milton Lilbourne Parish Council – Martinsell Hill
  • The Fonthill Estate – edge of Great Ridge Woods, above village of Chicklade
  • East Knoyle Parish Council – The Windmill, The Green, East Knoyle
  • Westbury Town Council – White Horse Beacon, Westbury
  • Highworth Town Council – Market Square, Highworth
  • Cherhill Parish Council – Cherhill Down, Cherhill, near Marlborough
  • Parish of Marden. Enford Parish Council – Between Enford and Netheravon, Salisbury Plain
  • Colerne Parish Council – Church of St John the Baptist, Colerne
  • Colerne Parish Council – Colerne Airfield, Colerne
  • Tidworth Town Council – Tidworth. Marlborough Town Council – The Common, Marlborough
  • West Dean Parish Council, Salisbury
  • Lydiard Millicent Parish Council. Neston Park, Corsham
  • Sherston Parish Council – Tower of Holy Cross Church, Sherston
  • Woodborough Parish Council – Woodborough Hill, woodborough, Pewsey
  • West Knoyle Parish Council – The Warren at Broadoak, Game Farm, West Knoyle
  • National Trust – Stourhead, Stourton
  • Keevil Parish Council, Keevil
  • Pitton & Farley Parish Council – Pitton Village Hall, Playing Field, White Hill, Pitton, Salisbury
  • Mere Town Council – Castle Hill, Mere
  • National Trust – Avebury, High Street, Avebury
  • Malmesbury Town Council – Lower High Street, Malmesbury
  • Stourton with Gasper Parish Council and Kilmington Parish Council in partnership with the National Trust – Whitesheet Hill. Tollard Royal Parish Council
  • Stanton St Bernard Parish Council – Milk Hill, Stanton St Bernard, Marlborough
  • Sutton Mandeville Parish Council – Manor Farm, Sutton Mendeville, Salisbury
  • Wiltshire Army Cadet Force & Devizes Town Council – Roundway Hill, Devizes