Bardsey Lighthouse stands on the southerly tip of Bardsey Island, off the Llŷn Peninsula in

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...

, Wales, and guides vessels passing through

St George's Channel St George's Channel ( cy, Sianel San Siôr, ga, Muir Bhreatan) is a sea channel connecting the Irish Sea to the north and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. Historically, the name "St George's Channel" was used interchangeably with "Irish Sea" ...

and the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

History

Application for a light here was first made in 1816 by Lt. Thomas Evans R.N., but several other applications made in 1820 finally resulted in the building of the tower by Trinity House in 1821 at a cost of £5,470 12s 6d plus a further £2,950 16s 7d for the lanternDouglas Bland Hague, ''Lighthouses of Wales Their Architecture and Archaeology'', 1994, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, Aberystwyth, 102 pages, (equivalent to £ and £ in ). Joseph Nelson was the engineer and builder, but the heavy weathered string-course near the base and the blocked and hooded directional-light window show the influence of Daniel Alexander, who succeeded Samuel Wyatt as consulting engineer to Trinity House, and under whom Nelson served. Joseph Nelson is associated with the design of at least fifteen lighthouses, mostly in the

Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Seve ...

. In 1987 the lighthouse was converted to automatic operation and up until 1995 was monitored from the Trinity House area control station at

Holyhead Holyhead (,; cy, Caergybi , "Cybi's fort") is the largest town and a community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales, with a population of 13,659 at the 2011 census. Holyhead is on Holy Island, bounded by the Irish Sea to the north, and is ...

. It is now monitored from the Trinity House depot at

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...

,Trinity House : ''Bardsey Lighthouse''
Retrieved 16 August 2009 with a local part-time attendant carrying out routine maintenance.

Architecture

The lighthouse is built of

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

and is unplastered inside and out, but painted in red and white bands on the outside. The lighthouse

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

is high and is unusual amongst Trinity House towers of this period in being square in plan ( Coquet Lighthouse, Northumberland is also square). Unlike many other lighthouses, it retains its original gallery railings, which are of iron and bellied (i.e. curved out in width at their crowns) towards the top. Other examples include Salt Island Lighthouse, at Holyhead, designed by John Rennie in the same year. The present lantern, fitted in 1856, did not require the removal of the original railings. The plinth of the tower is high and elaborately enriched, and at ground level it forms a square of reducing to at the top of the plinth and at the top of the tower below the crowning

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

, which juts out in a square of . The walls are thick at the base reducing to under at the top. Originally, the light comprised reflectors but changed to a dioptric (refracting) mechanism in 1838; the appearance of the original lantern is not known. The present lantern of 1856 is a wide chamfered octagon and the light remained fixed, instead of revolving. The present revolving apparatus was installed in 1873 and gives a group of five flashes, originally driven by a vapourising oil-lamp, but replaced by electric in 1973. The lighthouse is unusual in lacking any sort of harbour or quay facilities. As it is on an established migratory route, the tower has many bird casualties and

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a Charitable_organization#United_Kingdom, charitable organisation registered in Charity Commission for England and Wales, England and Wales and in Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, ...

and Trinity House have tried to help the problem by providing perches on the lantern top and flood-lighting the tower, although this does not seem to have helped.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Aberdaron Cardigan Bay Lighthouses in Wales Grade II listed lighthouses Grade II listed buildings in Gwynedd

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links