Over the entrance there is a tablet bearing the inscription M.W.G. 1763, this is commemorating the then mayor of Liverpool, William Gregson. Two lighthouses were erected on the coast of Leasowe in 1763 a 'lower light' on the shore and an 'upper light' on the site of the present building. The theory was, that the approaching ships master had only to line up the two lights to achieve a safe entrance to the Rock Channel and the port of Liverpool. The 'lower light' was troubled by erosion and the building collapsed. The present lighthouse at Leasowe was used as the lower light when the previous lower lighthouse collapsed and the upper light was built on Bidston Hill in 1771, three miles away. The light at Leasowe were lit for the last time on July 14th 1908, and the light at Bidston ceased to function in 1913.

The last keeper of the lighthouse was a woman. Mr. and Mrs. Williams were formerly keepers of the Great Orme Lighthouse in Llandudno and they transferred to Leasowe. Shortly after moving Mr. Williams was taken ill and it was during his illness that his wife took over the duties. She performed them so well that on his death, which was twelve months later, the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board made her keeper. They also allowed her to employ one of her thirteen children, a daughter, as an assistant. When the building ceased to function as a lighthouse Mrs. Williams was moved into a cottage but she kept the lighthouse as a teahouse for summer visitors and it became extremely popular. In 1929 it was offered for sale but no one wanted to buy it until March 1930 when the Wallasey Corporation bought it for a sum of ?900.

After the death of Mrs. Williams in 1935 the lighthouse was closed to the public and put to no further use. In 1973 it was painted white but nothing more was done until 1989 when the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral carried out refurbishment work to stop the building deteriorating any further.

The lighthouse houses a Visitor Centre and is the base for the Coastal Rangers and the focal point for the North Wirral Coastal Park. The lighthouse is open to the top on the first Sunday of each month throughout the winter, and in the summer it is open on the first and third Sundays, 1pm until 4pm.