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What is a survey beacon?

A beacon is the survey mark at a property corner in Seychelles. What beacons are in law, how boundaries are drawn from them, how to read a beacon code, and what to do if one is missing.

Reviewed 22 July 2026 · cited to primary sources

Ask where a Seychelles property ends and you are really asking about its beacons. They are the physical, legally defined marks that fix every corner of every parcel, and the reason SeyLand can draw a boundary you can trust.

01 The legal definition

Under the Land Survey Act (Cap 109), a beacon is.

the mark or structure made or erected at, or indicatory of, the corner point of a parcel of land, or at an intermediate line point on a rectilinear boundary, by a land surveyor... and includes a bench mark, reference mark or control point.

In other words, a beacon is not a fence or a wall. It is the official surveyed point, placed by a licensed land surveyor, a Government surveyor or a cadastral surveyor, that the law treats as the true corner.

02 How boundaries are built from beacons

A parcel's boundary is simply the set of straight lines joining its beacons in order. The 2023 planning regulations put it plainly. The boundary line is the outer line joining the beacons of a parcel surveyed under the Land Survey Act. This is why cadastral boundaries are rectilinear. Straight runs between fixed points, and why the corners, not the fences, are what count. On SeyLand, the survey plate for a parcel shows exactly this. The boundary drawn between its labelled beacons.

03 Reading a beacon

Each beacon carries a code, such as GP925 or LE814. The code is a unique identifier for that mark in the survey record, not a coordinate. It lets a surveyor tie the point on the ground back to the official diagram and its precise position. Seychelles beacons carry coordinates in both the modern WGS84 datum and the historic Clark 1880 datum, which is how old and new surveys are reconciled.

On SeyLand
You can search any parcel by its number, or any beacon by its code, and see it on the map. The beacons at a parcel's corners are labelled on its survey plate.

04 If a beacon is missing or moved

Beacons get buried, built over, knocked out or, occasionally, moved. Because the boundary is legally the line between beacons, a lost or displaced beacon is a real problem. It is a common root of boundary disputes. The fix is not to guess. A licensed land surveyor re-establishes the beacon from the survey record. Do this before you build near a boundary, not after.

05 Protection in law

Beacons are protected. The Land Survey Act creates a servitude for the protection of a beacon or other survey mark, and interfering with one is treated seriously. If a beacon sits awkwardly on your land, the answer is a surveyor, not a spade.

FAQCommon questions
What is the difference between a beacon and a boundary?+

The beacon is the fixed corner mark. The boundary is the straight line joining the beacons. Move or lose a beacon and the boundary becomes uncertain, which is why beacons are protected.

Can I move a beacon on my own land?+

No. Beacons may only be placed or re-established by a licensed surveyor, and they are protected by law. Disturbing one can create a boundary dispute and legal liability.

What does a beacon code like LE814 mean?+

It is a unique identifier for that survey mark in the official record. It lets a surveyor match the point on the ground to its exact recorded position.

How do I find my parcel's beacons?+

Search the parcel number on the SeyLand map; the corners are its beacons. For the physical marks on the ground, a land surveyor locates them from the survey diagram.

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