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.

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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.

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 Dorset

Bournemouth Echo: 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

Milton Abbas – precise location not listed

Bournemouth - close to the Jon Egging memorial on East Overcliff Drive

Berwick St John Parish Council – precise location not listed

Wareham Town Council – Howard’s Lane car park

Wimborne Minster Town Council, Colehill Parish Council and Pamphill and Shapwick Parish Council – Wimborne Cemetery, Wimborne

Studland Parish Council – location not listed

Blandford Forum Town Council – Railway Arches, Blandford Forum

Bere Regis Parish Council – Bere Regis

Poole - Sandbanks 

Sydling St Nicholas Parish Council – Eastfield Hill, Sydling St Nicholas, Dorchester

National Trust, North and West Dorset – Thorncombe Beacon, Bridport

Island and Royal Manor of Portland Court Leet – The Beacon Ground, Priory Corner, Portland

Sandford Orcas, Queen Thorne, Sherborne – Above Mitre Inn, Sandford Orcas

Wareham Town Council – Howards Lane Car Park, Wareham

Sturminster Newton Town Council – Railway Garden, Old Market Hill, Sturminster Newton

Corton Denham Village Hall – Corton Denham Hill, Corton Denham

Stratton Parish Council – Grimstone Down, Stratton

Minterne Estate – Field at Bakers Plain, Cerne Abbas

Corfe Castle Platinum Jubilee Committee – East Hill, Corfe Castle, Wareham

Christchurch Town Council – Mudeford Quay, Christchurch

Frampton Parish Council – Frampton

West Parley Parish Council – The Memorial Hall, West Parley

East Lulworth Parish Council – Icehouse Field, Lulworth Castle, East Lulworth, Wareham

Spetisbury Parish Council and Charlton Marshall Parish Council – Spetisbury Rings, South Farm, Spetisbury

Dorset Council – Durlston Castle, Durlston Country Park, Swanage

Newman Farming Partnership – Castle Hill, Cattistock, Dorchester

Charmouth Parish Council – Charmouth Beach/Foreshore, Lower Sea Lane, Charmouth

Broadwindsor Fun Group – Allotments opposite Broadwindsor School, Broadwindsor

Kimmeridge Village Hall – Kimmeridge Bay, Kimmeridge, Wareham

Lyme Bay NCI Unit – Near Lyme Bay NCI Station, Lyme Bay

Parish of Melcombe Horsey and Hilton – Melcombe Park, Ansty, Dorchester

Membury Merry Makers & Membury Parish Council – Membury Castle, Membury

Rotary Club of Gillingham (Dorset) - Harding's Lane Recreation Ground, Gillingham

Yetminster Jubilee Celebration Committee – St Andrew's Church Tower, Yetminster