Trwyn Du Lighthouse, also known as Penmon Lighthouse, is a

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 ...

between Black Point near

Penmon Penmon is a promontory, village and ecclesiastical parish on the eastern tip of the Isle of Anglesey in Wales, about east of the town of Beaumaris. It is in the community of Llangoed. The name comes from cy, pen (which can mean "head", "end" ...

and Ynys Seiriol, or Puffin Island, at the eastern extremity of

Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...

, marking the passage between the two islands.

History

The first lighthouse was erected in 1838, at a price of £11,589. There had been a call for a light at this location for some years by master shipmen in the nearby city of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, especially after the steamer the '' Rothsay Castle'' ran aground and broke up on nearby Lavan Sands in 1831 with 130 people losing their lives. The present Lighthouse, built 1835–1838, is 29 metres (95') tall and was designed by James Walker. It was his first sea-washed

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 ...

, and a prototype for his more ambitious tower on the Smalls. The Lighthouse has a stepped-base designed to discourage the huge upsurge of waves that had afflicted earlier lighthouses on the site and reduce the force of the water at the bottom of the tower. Austere vertical walls, instead of the usual graceful lines of other rock towers, are probably an economy measure. The tower has a

crenellated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

stone

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

, in preference to iron railings on the gallery, and narrows in diameter above the half-way point. These are features used by Walker in his other lighthouse designs. The tower is distinguished by its original three black bands painted on a white background. Its also bears the words "NO PASSAGE LANDWARD" on its north and south sides. Walker also pioneered, unsuccessfully, the use of a primitive

water closet A flush toilet (also known as a flushing toilet, water closet (WC) – see also toilet names) is a toilet that disposes of human waste (principally urine and feces) by using the force of water to ''flush'' it through a drainpipe to another loca ...

, comprising a specially designed drain exiting at the base of the tower. The stepped design of the lighthouse may have helped water exit the closet, but surges of seawater made its use difficult during heavy weather. The light-source initially was a 4-wick

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 ...

, set within a

first-order In mathematics and other formal sciences, first-order or first order most often means either: * "linear" (a polynomial of degree at most one), as in first-order approximation and other calculus uses, where it is contrasted with "polynomials of high ...

fixed

catadioptric A catadioptric optical system is one where refraction and reflection are combined in an optical system, usually via lenses (dioptrics) and curved mirrors (catoptrics). Catadioptric combinations are used in focusing systems such as searchlights, he ...

optic Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviole ...

manufactured by Isaac Cookson & co. It displayed a fixed red light. One of the many lighthouse keepers was Joseph Steer, born in 1831 at

Bovey Tracey Bovey Tracey () is a small town and civil parish in Devon, England, on the edge of Dartmoor, its proximity to which gives rise to the "slogan" used on the town's boundary signs, "The Gateway to the Moor". It is often known locally as "Bovey". It ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

Modernisation

In 1922 Trwyn Du became the first Trinity House lighthouse to be automated, when it was converted to unwatched

acetylene Acetylene (systematic name: ethyne) is the chemical compound with the formula and structure . It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is unstable in its pure ...

operation. The lamp was converted to solar power in 1996 and the lighthouse was modernised extensively at that time. At present the Lighthouse has a 15,000

candela The candela ( or ; symbol: cd) is the unit of luminous intensity in the International System of Units (SI). It measures luminous power per unit solid angle emitted by a light source in a particular direction. Luminous intensity is analogous to ...

light that flashes once every 5 seconds and can be seen away. Additionally, a 178-kilogram (3½ cwt) fog bell sounds once every thirty seconds. There was also a lifeboat station built in 1832, nearby, but this closed in 1915. The tower has been unmanned since 1922 and is checked from

Holyhead Control Centre The Holyhead Breakwater Lighthouse stands on the Holyhead Breakwater outside the Welsh port of Holyhead, Anglesey. History The structure, which was completed in 1873, was most likely designed by Victorian civil engineer John Hawkshaw after he ...

. In August 2019 Trinity House started trials of a new fog horn, stating, "The bell is activated by an ageing electronic striker mechanism which no longer provides the assurance of reliability which is needed."

Access and facilities

Penmon Point is accessible by heading east out of

Beaumaris Beaumaris ( ; cy, Biwmares ) is a town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales, of which it is the former county town of Anglesey. It is located at the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait, the tidal waterway separating Anglesey from ...

and through

Llangoed Llangoed () is a small village, community (Wales), community and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward just north of Beaumaris, Anglesey, Beaumaris, on the Isle of Anglesey or ''Ynys Môn'', at . The Royal Mail postco ...

. For a small fee you can go along a

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...

and park very close to the lighthouse or park for free about a mile from the lighthouse. The area around Dinmor contains a cafe, shop and toilets and is good for fishing.

References

Sources

*Hague, D., B., ''The Lighthouses of Wales Their Architecture and Archaeology'' ( The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, Edited by Hughes, S., 1994)

External links