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Berry Head Lighthouse is an active lighthouse, located at the end of
Berry Head Berry Head is a coastal headland that forms the southern boundary of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Lying to the east of the town of Brixham, it is a national nature reserve and a local nature reserve. Berry Head To Sharkham Point is a Site of Sp ...
near Brixham in
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. Devo ...
, which has been in operation since 4 May 1906.London Gazette, Issue: 27914, Page: 3490, 18 May 1906.
/ref> Berry Head is reputedly the shortest lighthouse in Great Britain, but also one of the highest, being only tall, but above mean sea level. It was also said to be the ''deepest'' because the optic was originally turned by a weight falling down a deep shaft.


History

The lighthouse was designed and built for
Trinity House "Three In One" , formation = , founding_location = Deptford, London, England , status = Royal Charter corporation and registered charity , purpose = Maintenance of lighthouses, buoys and beacons , he ...
by its chief engineer Thomas Matthews. When first lit, the incandescent lamp was fuelled by oil gas (which was purchased from the Great Western Railway at Exeter and stored in large external tanks on site). The lamp was placed within a revolving third-order
dioptric Dioptrics is the branch of optics dealing with refraction, similarly the branch dealing with mirrors is known as catoptrics. Dioptrics is the study of the refraction of light, especially by lenses. Telescopes that create their image with an objec ...
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, ultravio ...
, which gave a double white flash every 15 seconds. It had a range of . Berry Head was classed as an unwatched light; it was managed by an attendant, who brought it into service each evening. In addition, the clockwork mechanism which turned the optic required regular winding. In 1921 the lighthouse was converted by the
AGA Aga or AGA may refer to: Business * Architectural Glass and Aluminum (AGA), a glazing contractor, established in 1970 * AGA (automobile), ''Autogen Gasaccumulator AG'', 1920s German car company *AGA AB, ''Aktiebolaget Svenska Gasaccumulator'', a ...
company to run on acetylene. A triple-cluster open-flame burner was installed, along with an acetylene-powered drive to turn the lens, and a Dalen sun valve (which automatically brought the light into operation when required). Since 1994 the lighthouse has run on mains electricity. In 2019 the optic and lamp were removed and replaced with a pair of self-contained LED lanterns (one serving as the main light, the other as a standby); the old characteristic was retained. The installation was the first application by Trinity House of its so-called 'simple lighthouse scheme', intended to be extended to all other shore-based mains-powered lighthouses, except those with more complex display requirements (e.g. provision of a sector light).


See also

*
List of lighthouses in England This is a list of lighthouses in England. It includes lighthouses which are no longer in use as a light but are still standing. It also includes some of the harbour and pier-head lights around the country. Details of several lighthouses and li ...


References


Further reading

*


External links


Trinity House

{{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1906 Lighthouses in Devon Industrial archaeological sites in Devon 1906 establishments in England