Holyhead Mail Pier or Admiralty Pier Lighthouse on
Salt Island, Anglesey, is an inactive
lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Lighthouses mar ...
which was designed by the civil engineer
John Rennie in 1821. It was built in the early 19th century to help guide shipping into the newly constructed harbour, now known as the
Port of Holyhead, which acted as the terminus for the
packet service
The Post Office Packet Service dates to Tudor times and ran until 1823, when the Admiralty assumed control of the service. Originally, the Post Office used packet ships to carry mail packets to and from British embassies, colonies and outposts. Th ...
between England and Ireland. It is probably the second oldest
lighthouse in Wales, after
Point of Ayr Lighthouse
The Point of Ayr Lighthouse, also known as the Talacre Lighthouse, is a Listed building, Grade II listed building situated on the north coast of Wales, on the Point of Ayr, near the village of Talacre.
It was built in 1776 by a Trust of the Ma ...
and is the last of a series of three lighthouses located on Salt Island.
History
The lighthouse was built as part of extensive improvements to
Holyhead Harbour authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1810.
[ The harbour was the mail packet station for packet boats crossing to Ireland, providing a postal service between Dublin and London, via Telford’s new turnpike road which was completed in 1826.][
The lighthouse is of national significance as one of John Rennie's surviving works. He was one of the most eminent engineers of the world's first Industrial Revolution. Of particular importance, in a Welsh context, is the early date of the lighthouse lantern, which was originally lit by gas. Before the conversion to electricity a gas works was located on the island to power the lighthouse, the piers and even part of Holyhead itself.]Bardsey Lighthouse
Bardsey Lighthouse stands on the southerly tip of Bardsey Island, off the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd, Wales, and guides vessels passing through St George's Channel and the Irish Sea.
History
Application for a light here was first made in 1816 ...
. It is no longer in use, although it is used as a navigation reference for sailors.
Lighthouse Explorer. Retrieved 1 June 2016
Listed buildings
The tower is a Grade II listed building, and was "Listed as an integral part of the important harbour scheme designed by Rennie, and as a good and well-preserved example of an early C19 harbour light."George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...
to Holyhead in 1821. The King was due to sail from Holyhead to Howth in Ireland on the royal yacht, but due to bad weather he travelled on the steam packet ''Lightning'' instead.
See also
* List of lighthouses in Wales
References
External links
*
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Lighthouses in Anglesey
Holyhead
Lighthouses completed in 1821
1821 establishments in the United Kingdom
Grade II listed lighthouses
Grade II listed buildings in Anglesey