Cape Pembroke is the most easterly point of the Falkland Islands and lies just over 7 miles due east of Stanley. It is thought to have been named after Thomas, Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, Lord High Admiral from 1690 to 1709.

In the 1840s, the first navigational aid was erected on Cape Pembroke in the form of a wooden marker point painted red and white. This was replaced in 1854 by a cast-iron lighthouse, pre-fabricated in London by William Wilkins of Long Acre. The tower was 60 feet high, painted in red and white bands. The light was produced by 18 lamps burning rapeseed oil, which were lit in December 1855 for the first time. The illuminating apparatus was first order catoptrics (reflecting) and the fixed light showed in every direction seaward, visible for 14 miles in clear conditions.

Then in 1904 Governor Allardyce reported that the original wooden piles had become rotten through damp; the brick and cement base had cracked and he considered the structure to be unsafe. A decision was taken in 1905 to re-build the lighthouse on new foundations.

Work began on this project in 1906. It was a major undertaking, involving 700 tons of new materials, a Trinity House supervisor and four contractors from Britain, and a team of local men. A lighthouse light was positioned about 200 yards to the west of the original site and a new lantern was placed on top, making the lighthouse 70 feet high from base to weather vane.

The re-built light was illuminating again in June 1907. The original system had been replaced by a dioptric (refracting) 3rd order apparatus, lit by paraffin lamps. Mounted on a stand that revolved by clockwork, it showed a flashing light instead of a fixed one and was visible for 16 miles in clear weather. In this form it operated continuously until the Argentine invasion in April 1982, when it was put out of operation.

The light on Cape Pembroke today is a freestanding solar-powered unit with a racon, erected by the Fisheries Department in 1987. It was decided that the lighthouse had become redundant as a navigational aid. However, in 1989 proposals were put forward for the restoration of the lighthouse and work is currently in progress, supported by various bodies including the government Historic Buildings Fund.

When the restoration is complete (hopefully in time for the 100^th anniversary in 2005) it is hoped to install a permanent exhibition of lighthouse history in the base of the tower, as this remains a popular destination for residents and short-term visitors.