Cape Forchu ( ) is a Canadian

fishing community A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 m ...

and

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, John ...

of the same name in

Yarmouth County Yarmouth County is a rural county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It has both traditional Anglo- Scottish and Acadian French culture as well as significant inland wilderness areas, including over 365 lakes and several major rivers. It c ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

History

During the 17th and 18th centuries, fishing,

water transportation Water transportation is the international movement of water over large distances. Methods of transportation fall into three categories: * Aqueducts, which include pipelines, canals, tunnels and bridges * Container shipment, which includes trans ...

and trade were essential to everyday life in Cape Forchu. During the American Revolution, in December 1775, American privateers took four vessels at Cape Forchu and took the people of the hamlet prisoners. During the 19th century, Yarmouth Harbour became a major port of registry for

sailing ships A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships c ...

and by the late 19th century, it was the second largest port of registry in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Shipwrecks were common along the shoreline and it was recommended by Colonel Robert Morse in 1874 that a chain of lighthouses should be built along the shores of Nova Scotia hence the construction of the

Cape Forchu Lighthouse The Cape Forchu Lighthouse is located in Cape Forchu, Nova Scotia. The lighthouse is located 11 km from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. History The lighthouse was constructed in 1839 and was operational in 1840. The original station was demolished i ...

in 1840. This light station was replaced in 1962 with the "apple core" - a concrete tower. Since 2000, the original fresnel lens used at the lighthouse is located at the

Yarmouth County Museum The Yarmouth County Museum & Archives is a museum located in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. This museum explores the history of Yarmouth County. Located in the heart of Yarmouth's heritage residential district, the museum is housed in a former c ...

. At Cape Forchu there is an outcrop of the ancient supercontinent

Gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...

. The 2019 film ''

The Lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower aiding marine navigation. Light House, Lighthouse, or The Lighthouse may also refer to: Art and architecture Actual lighthouses Buildings called "Light House" or "Lighthouse" * Light House (Aarhus), a skyscraper under ...

'', directed by

Robert Eggers Robert Houston Eggers (born July 7, 1983) is an American filmmaker, director, and production designer. He is best known for writing and directing the historical horror films ''The Witch (2015 film), The Witch'' (2015) and ''The Lighthouse (2019 f ...

and starring

Robert Pattinson Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson (born 13 May 1986) is an English actor. Known for starring in both big-budget and independent films, Pattinson has ranked among the world's highest-paid actors. In 2010, ''Time'' magazine named him one of the 1 ...

and Willem Dafoe, was shot almost entirely on Cape Forchu. For the exteriors shots, producers built a full-scale, 70-foot lighthouse tower on the cape that could withstand 120-kilometre winds. The original 1840 lighthouse, demolished in 1961, was featured on a postage stamp in 2022, one of five Vintage Travel Posters stamps issued on June 9. The stamps had been planned for release in 2020, but were twice delayed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The stamp shows the old lighthouse as it appears on a 1950 poster designed by Peter Ewart, promoting “Canada’s Picturesque East Coast” for Canadian Pacific.

References

External links

Cape Forchu Lightstation
{{coord, 43, 48, 25, N, 66, 09, 30, W, display=title Forchu Communities in Yarmouth County General Service Areas in Nova Scotia Peninsulas of Nova Scotia