Longships Lighthouse
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Longships Lighthouse is an active 19th-century lighthouse about off the coast of
Land's End Land's End ( kw, Penn an Wlas or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...
in
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, England. It is the second lighthouse to be built on Carn Bras, the highest of the Longships islets which rises above high water level. In 1988 the lighthouse was automated, and the keepers withdrawn. It is now remotely monitored from the
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 ...
Operations & Planning Centre in
Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...
, Essex.


History

In the second half of the 18th century,
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 ...
was petitioned repeatedly by ship owners for a lighthouse to be built on one of the rocks off Land's End. In 1790
John Smeaton John Smeaton (8 June 1724 – 28 October 1792) was a British civil engineer responsible for the design of bridges, canals, harbours and lighthouses. He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent physicist. Smeaton was the fir ...
surveyed the area, and recommended either Wolf Rock or the Longships reef as potentially suitable locations. Trinity House sought a leaseholder, who would be responsible for building the tower and maintaining the light in return for the right to levy dues on passing ships. The lease was eventually granted, for a period of fifty years, to a Lieutenant Henry Smith (who had previously been involved in trying to establish a
beacon A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...
on the rocks). He engaged
Samuel Wyatt Samuel Wyatt (8 September 1737, Weeford, Staffs. – London, 8 February 1807) was an English architect and engineer. A member of the Wyatt family, which included several notable 18th- and 19th-century English architects, his work was primarily in a ...
, who had recently been appointed the Surveyor of Trinity House, as architect for the project. Work on site began in 1793; however, Smith underestimated the time required and costs involved, and struggled to raise sufficient funds (since the levying of dues depended on the lighthouse being operational). He took out expensive loans to see the work through, but was unable to repay them as promised; (he ended up being sent to the Fleet Prison as a
debtor A debtor or debitor is a legal entity (legal person) that owes a debt to another entity. The entity may be an individual, a firm, a government, a company or other legal person. The counterparty is called a creditor. When the counterpart of this ...
in 1801).


The first lighthouse

Smith's lighthouse was first lit on 29 September 1795. Built to Wyatt's design, it was a round tower, three storey's high and built of
granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
, on top of which was a glazed lantern storey with a copper-covered dome. Within the tower itself, the lower level contained a water tank and coal store, the middle floor housed the oil tanks and a kitchen, while the top floor served as a bedroom. The lantern contained a fixed array of eighteen
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 with reflectors, arranged in two tiers and shining out to sea, probably the first time Argand lamps and reflectors had been installed in an offshore lighthouse. The tower was only just over high, but was built on top of a rock pinnacle meaning that the lantern was above
sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
; nevertheless very high seas obscured its light. In the early 19th century it was manned by a two teams of two keepers, each team being on station for a month at a time. In 1836 Trinity House bought out the lease of the Longships (and other remaining privately-owned lighthouses). The Corporation built a set of keepers' dwellings onshore, near
Sennen Cove Sennen Cove ( kw, Porthsenen) () is a small coastal village in the parish of Sennen in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. According to the Penwith District Council, the population of this settlement was estimated at 180 persons in 2000. The ...
facing the lighthouse out to sea, in 1855; keepers' families lived there and the keepers themselves when not on station.


The current lighthouse

In 1869 Trinity House began constructing a replacement tower to the designs of William Douglass. The building of the present granite tower used much of the equipment that had previously been used in the construction of the
Wolf Rock Lighthouse Wolf Rock Lighthouse is on the Wolf Rock ( kw, An Welv, meaning ''the lip''), a single rock located east of St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly and southwest of Land's End, in Cornwall, England. The fissures in the rock are ...
; construction was supervised by Michael Beazeley, who had been assistant engineer to Douglass at Wolf Rock. The new lighthouse was just over tall. It was equipped with 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, ...
optic built by Dr
John Hopkinson John Hopkinson, FRS, (27 July 1849 – 27 August 1898) was a British physicist, electrical engineer, Fellow of the Royal Society and President of the IEE (now the IET) twice in 1890 and 1896. He invented the three-wire (three-phase) system for ...
of
Chance Brothers Chance Brothers and Company was a glassworks originally based in Spon Lane, Smethwick, West Midlands (formerly in Staffordshire), in England. It was a leading glass manufacturer and a pioneer of British glassmaking technology. The Chance fami ...
. The lens array, itself over tall, was placed on a pedestal within the lantern; the light source was an eight-wick 'Douglass' oil lamp, powered by
colza Close-up of canola blooms Canola flower Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae. Historically, i ...
. The tower was first lit in December 1873, having cost £43,870 to build, and displayed a fixed white light with two red
sectors Sector may refer to: Places * Sector, West Virginia, U.S. Geometry * Circular sector, the portion of a disc enclosed by two radii and a circular arc * Hyperbolic sector, a region enclosed by two radii and a hyperbolic arc * Spherical sector, a p ...
(to warn ships away from
the Brisons The Brisons ( kw, Enys Vordardh, meaning ''breaker island'') is a twin-peaked islet in the Celtic Sea situated 1 mile (1.6 km) offshore from Cape Cornwall in Cornwall, United Kingdom. Geography The Brisons (the name is French: brisant, ' ...
, to the north-east, and Rundlestone, to the south-east). Initially the new lighthouse was fitted with a
fog bell A fog bell is a navigation mark used as an audible aid to navigation in seafaring, especially in fog and poor visibility. Floating navigation signs with bells are called bell buoys. On ships, the ship's bell is used for sound signals. Due to more s ...
, which sounded two strokes every fifteen seconds; After the new tower was completed Wyatt's tower was dismantled and the higher pinnacles of rock on Carn Bras were removed. In 1883 Longstone was altered to show an
occulting light A light characteristic is all of the properties that make a particular navigational light identifiable. Graphical and textual descriptions of navigational light sequences and colours are displayed on nautical charts and in Light Lists with the cha ...
(eclipsed for three seconds every minute). An explosive fog signal was introduced at the same time,London Gazette, Issue: 25226, Page: 2315, 1 May 1883
/ref> using Brock fog rockets to sound a signal twice every ten minutes. The bell was retained for use as an alternative signal, put to use if the explosive signal was not working, until 1897 when it was removed. Even after these improvements, however, the '' S.S. Bluejacket'' was wrecked on rocks near the lighthouse on a clear night in 1898, nearly demolishing the lighthouse in the process. Often due to bad weather there was a delay in relieving the men and supplying stores. In January 1901 there was some concern that the men had run short of provisions due to the severe weather. It was found that there was plenty of stores and the only hardship was their lack of tobacco. They had taken to smoking coffee, hops and tea leaves instead. The explosive signal was altered to sound twice every five minutes in 1899. In 1904 the multi-wick lamp was replaced with a
Matthews Matthews may refer to: People * Matthews (surname) Places * Matthews Island, Antarctica * Matthews Range, Kenya * Mount Matthews, New Zealand United States * Matthews, Georgia * Matthews, Indiana * Matthews, Maryland * Matthews, Missouri * Mat ...
incandescent oil burner. A new Matthews-designed explosive fog signal apparatus was also installed on the lantern gallery at around the same time. In 1925 the lamp was again replaced, this time with a Hood petroleum vapour burner. In 1967 the light was electrified and the tower modified: the 1873 optic was removed and in its place a pair of Lister diesel generator sets were installed on the old lamp room floor (occupying the lower part of the lantern). Above them an additional floor was inserted to support a new (reduced height) first-order
dioptric Dioptrics is the branch of optics dealing with refraction, similarly the branch dealing with mirror A mirror or looking glass is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of ...
optic, with an electric lamp replacing the old
paraffin Paraffin may refer to: Substances * Paraffin wax, a white or colorless soft solid that is used as a lubricant and for other applications * Liquid paraffin (drug), a very highly refined mineral oil used in cosmetics and for medical purposes * Alkane ...
burner. It displayed an
isophase light A light characteristic is all of the properties that make a particular navigational light identifiable. Graphical and textual descriptions of navigational light sequences and colours are displayed on nautical charts and in Light Lists with the cha ...
(one long five-second flash every ten seconds) and was visible up to distant. At the same time, the explosive fog signal was removed and a ' supertyfon' fog horn was installed: compressed air was provided by a pair of
Worthington-Simpson Worthington-Simpson was a British pump manufacturer. Many of their pumps were used in municipal waterworks in Great Britain. The company has its roots in a steam engine workshop founded by Thomas Simpson around 1785. His sons took over the worksho ...
compressor units to three sounders, each placed alongside its own air tank on the lantern gallery. In 1974 a helipad was constructed on top of the lantern, greatly easing access. In 1988 the lighthouse was automated: the keepers were withdrawn, a new set of generators was installed and the fog horn was replaced by a new electric emitter. It was initially monitored by a telemetry link from the
Lizard Lighthouse The Lizard Lighthouse is a lighthouse at Lizard Point, Cornwall, England, built to guide vessels passing through the English Channel. It was often the welcoming beacon to persons returning to England, where on a clear night, the reflected lig ...
; since 1996 it has been monitored from Harwich.


Operation

The light was converted to solar power in 2005; it now flashes twice every ten seconds. Seaward flashes are white but they become red – due to tinted sectors – for any vessel straying too close to either
Cape Cornwall Cape Cornwall ( kw, Kilgoodh Ust, meaning "goose back of St Just") is a small headland in West Cornwall, UK. It is four miles north of Land's End near the town of St Just.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End'' Until the first O ...
to the north or
Gwennap Head Gwennap Head ( kw, Toll Pedn Pennwydh, meaning ''holed head of Penwith''; ) is a headland on the south coast of the Penwith peninsula, Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is within the parish of St Levan and approximately south of Land's End, and les ...
to the south-southeast. The white light has a range of , and the red
sector light A sector light is a man-made pilotage and position fixing aid that consists of strictly delineated horizontal angle light beams to guide water-borne traffic through a safe channel at night in reasonable visibility. Sector lights are most often ...
a slightly shorter range of . During poor visibility the
fog horn A foghorn or fog signal is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines, or boats of the presence of other vessels, in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport. W ...
sounds once every ten seconds.


Gallery

File:Longships lighthouse.jpg, Longships lighthouse from the landward side. File:Rough Sea On Longships Lighthouse Lands End Cornwall 1938 RP Postcard 149c.jpg, The lighthouse on a windy day in 1938. File:Longships Lighthouse2 Fossick.jpg, As of 2021 solar panels surround the lower half of the lantern. File:Viewpoint towards Longships lighthouse, Lands End - geograph.org.uk - 2398471.jpg, View of the lighthouse from Land's End. File:Longships - geograph.org.uk - 1956847.jpg, Aerial view of the rocks.


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


External links


Trinity House
{{Authority control Lighthouses completed in 1795 Lighthouses completed in 1875 Lighthouses in Cornwall Sennen