Leasowe Lighthouse is a historic

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 ...

Leasowe Leasowe () is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. Historically within Cheshire (ceased to be in 1974), Leasowe was part of the old County Borough of Wallasey. It is now within the Leasowe and Moreton East War ...

on the

Wirral Peninsula Wirral (; ), known locally as The Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide and is bounded by the River Dee to the west (forming the boundary with Wales), the River Mersey to t ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The lighthouse was built in 1763 by The Mersey Docks and Harbour Company to guide shipping safely to the

Port of Liverpool The Port of Liverpool is the enclosed Dock (maritime), dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, Merseyside, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Great Float, Birkenhead Docks between ...

and is the oldest lighthouse built from bricks in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The lighthouse became obsolete and was closed in 1908. The last lighthouse keeper was a Mrs. Williams, the only known female lighthouse keeper of the period.

History

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

passed in 1761 allowed the Liverpool Docks Trustees to build four lighthouses. Two were built at

. These were the Upper Mockbeggar Light and Lower Mockbeggar Light. When lined up, these allowed for safe passage through "Rock Channel" to the

. The former is now known as Leasowe Lighthouse, while the latter was built one quarter of a mile into the sea and was destroyed by a storm in 1769, with its replacement, Bidston Lighthouse, built in 1771 on

Bidston Hill Bidston Hill is of heathland and woodland containing historic buildings and ancient rock carvings, on the Wirral Peninsula, near the Birkenhead suburb of Bidston, in Merseyside, England. With a peak of , Bidston Hill is one of the highest poi ...

. The other two lighthouses permitted by the Act were built at

Hoylake Hoylake is a coast, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the north west of the Wirral Peninsula, near West Kirby and where the River Dee, Wales, River Dee meets the Irish Sea. Historic counties of En ...

(the name ''Hoylake'' was derived from ''Hoyle Lake'', the name of a channel of water between

Hilbre Island The Hilbre Islands ( ) are an archipelago consisting of three islands at the mouth of the estuary of the River Dee, the border between England and Wales at this point. The islands are administratively part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirra ...

and Dove Point,

Meols Meols (sometimes known as Great Meols) is a village on the northern coast of the Wirral Peninsula, England. It is contiguous with the town of Hoylake immediately to the west. Historically in Cheshire, since 1 April 1974 it has been part of th ...

) to facilitate safe access into the Hoyle Lake anchorage. Protected by a wide sandbank known as Hoyle Bank and with a water depth of about 20 feet, it provided a safe

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...

age for ships. Leasowe Lighthouse was in use until 14 July 1908; by this time, the sand banks had shifted so much that Rock Channel was barely navigable, rendering the lighthouse obsolete. The lighthouse was a place of work and also a home. The last

lighthouse keeper A lighthouse keeper or lightkeeper is a person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Lighthouse keepers were sometimes referred to as ...

was a Mrs. Williams, the only known female lighthouse keeper in this period. Upon its closure as a lighthouse, Williams moved into a cottage but kept the lighthouse open as a

tearoom A teahouse (mainly Asia) or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment whic ...

during the summer months. In 1930, the lighthouse was bought by the Wallasey Corporation, in 1935 Williams died and the building was closed. The lighthouse was listed as a historic Grade II building with

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

in 1952. A period of disrepair ensued and the lighthouse became derelict. It was then restored by a community group called "The Friends of Leasowe Lighthouse".

Construction

The lighthouse is a tapering cylindrical design that is one hundred and one feet tall with cavity walls that are several feet thick and a plain balcony. The construction used 660,000 hand-made bricks. It has seven floors. The original wooden staircase was replaced in 1898, with one made of cast iron that has one hundred and thirty steps. The light was originally coal-fired, but in 1772 changed to oil burning.

Robert Stevenson Robert Stevenson may refer to: * Robert Stevenson (actor and politician) (1915–1975), American actor and politician * Robert Stevenson (civil engineer) (1772–1850), Scottish lighthouse engineer * Robert Stevenson (director) (1905–1986), Engl ...

said in 1801, while on his lighthouse tour, that the tower had "one reflector of silvered glass 7½ feet in diameter and 13 inches focal distance". Later, in 1861, it was reportedly equipped with eight

Argand lamp The Argand lamp is a type of oil lamp invented in 1780 by Aimé Argand. Its output is 6 to 10 candelas, brighter than that of earlier lamps. Its more complete combustion of the candle wick and oil than in other lamps required much less frequent ...

s and reflectors. It was staffed by a keeper and an assistant, who resided in the tower.

Location

The pathway along Mockbeggar Wharf, Leasowe (geograph 3786719)

The lighthouse is on

Common near Mockbeggar Wharf. The Wharf takes its name from ''Mockbeggar Hall'', which is an alternative name for the nearby

Leasowe Castle Leasowe () is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. Historically within Cheshire (ceased to be in 1974), Leasowe was part of the old County Borough of Wallasey. It is now within the Leasowe and Moreton East War ...

. The area is in the

North Wirral Coastal Park The North Wirral Coastal Park, on the Wirral Peninsula, England is a coastal park including public open space, common land, natural foreshore and sand-dunes. The park lies between Dove Point in Meols, and the Kings Parade in New Brighton, and ...

and used for recreational purposes such as walking and bird watching.

Facilities

The lighthouse is a community facility that is used as a location for numerous activities and is used by the ranger service of the North Wirral Coastal Park. It is used for charity

abseil Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling the person descending controls their own movement down the rope, in contrast to low ...

ing events and

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Nota ...

visits, as well as for a meeting place for running groups. It has also been used by film and television companies. The lighthouse has a small visitor centre and is a focal location on the North Wirral Coastal Park. It is open on the first and third Sunday of every month for visits.

References

{{authority control Lighthouses in England Lighthouse museums in England Grade II listed lighthouses Tourist attractions in Merseyside