The Point of Ayr Lighthouse, also known as the Talacre Lighthouse, is a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

situated on the north coast of

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, on the

Point of Ayr :''There are two other similarly named points in the British Isles: Point of Ayre, Isle of Man and Point of Ayre, Orkney, Scotland.'' Point of Ayr ( cy, Y Parlwr Du) is the northernmost point of mainland Wales. It is situated immediately to ...

, near the village of

Talacre Talacre is a village in Flintshire on the north coast of Wales in the community of Llanasa and the electoral ward of Ffynnongroyw, and is the northernmost mainland settlement in Wales. The village itself has a population of 347 as of the 2011 cen ...

. It was built in 1776 by a Trust of the Major, Recorder and Aldermen of Chester to warn ships entering between the Dee and the Mersey Estuary. It was replaced by a pile light and was decommissioned in 1844. It is now a privately owned property.

Ownership

The lighthouse was listed on the property market in November 2011 by then owner James McAllister, along with two acres of land, for £100,000. It was eventually sold in April 2012 for £90,000 to a private couple who continue to own the property.

Paranormal activity

Two alleged incidents have been reported by Wales Online.

The Keeper

'Keeper' at the Point of Ayr Lighthouse geograph - 2583997

In August 2009, the BBC reported that planning permission had been sought to erect a "human sculpture" inspired by the reported ghostly sightings on the lighthouse balcony. This application was made by then owner James McAllister who intended it to serve as a "serious art installation". Local artist Angela Smith was contracted to design the 7 foot stainless steel ‘lighthouse keeper’ with the initial planning permission being approved for a three-year period. Permission was not sought to retain the structure after this point and the sculpture was relocated.

Damage

In March 2007, the lighthouse was damaged by storms which resulted in the metal steps leading to the building becoming dislocated and also resulted structural damage with a hole being created in the base according to the BBC. The cost of repairs was covered by the owners of a local caravan park who were involved in the ownership of the Lighthouse at the time.

TV advertisements

The lighthouse featured in the background in a 2011 TV advertisement by paint manufacturer

Dulux Dulux is an internationally available brand of architectural paint originated from the United Kingdom. The brand name Dulux has been used by both Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) and DuPont since 1931 and was one of the first alkyd-based pa ...

. The advertisement was designed to mark the 50th anniversary of the first appearance of their

Old English Sheepdog The Old English Sheepdog is a large breed of dog that emerged in England from early types of herding dog. Obsolete names for the breed include Shepherd's Dog and . The nickname ''Bob-tail'' (or ''Bobtail'') originates from how dogs of the breed ...

mascot.

References