Plover Scar Lighthouse, also known as the Abbey Lighthouse, is an active 19th century

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 ...

sited at the entrance of the

Lune Lune may refer to: Rivers *River Lune, in Lancashire and Cumbria, England *River Lune, Durham, in County Durham, England *Lune (Weser), a 43 km-long tributary of the Weser in Germany *Lune River (Tasmania), in south-eastern Tasmania, Australia Pl ...

estuary, near

Cockersand Abbey Cockersand Abbey is a former abbey and former civil parish near Cockerham in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England. It is situated near the mouth of the River Cocker. History It was founded before 1184 as the Hospital of St Mar ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England. The lighthouse is maintained by the

Lancaster Port Commission Lancaster Port Commission is the Statutory Harbour Authority for the Port of Lancaster. It is now based at Glasson Dock. It was set up by act of parliament to facilitate the role that the port could play in international trade, particularly the At ...

. It is registered under the international Admiralty number A4876 and has the NGA identifier of 114-5144.

Description

The lighthouse consists of an white conical stone tower, with a black lantern and twin galleries, built on a rock ledge that is uncovered at low tide. With a focal height of 6m above sea level, the light can be seen for six nautical miles. Its light characteristic is made up of a flash of white light every two seconds.

History

The lighthouse was built in 1847, as the lower light of a pair of

leading lights Leading lights (also known as range lights in the United States) are a pair of light beacons used in navigation to indicate a safe passage for vessels entering a shallow or dangerous channel; they may also be used for position fixing. At night ...

, and is therefore also called the front or Low Light. The rear or High Light, known as Cockersand Lighthouse, once stood next to the Abbey Lighthouse cottage on Slack Lane. It was a square wooden tower supported by angled wooden struts. The leading lights helped ships navigate into the Lune estuary, to reach

Glasson Dock Glasson Dock, also known as Glasson, is a village in Lancashire, England, south of Lancaster at the mouth of the River Lune. In 2011, it had a population of around 600. History Glasson was originally a small farming and fishing community (whic ...

and then onwards via the

Lancaster Canal The Lancaster Canal is a canal in North West England, originally planned to run from Westhoughton in Lancashire to Kendal in south Cumbria (historically in Westmorland). The section around the crossing of the River Ribble was never completed, a ...

to the port of Lancaster, with Plover Scar marking the rocky outcrop at the edge of the deep water channel into the estuary. Both lighthouses were equipped with a pair of

paraffin lamp A kerosene lamp (also known as a paraffin lamp in some countries) is a type of lighting device that uses kerosene as a fuel. Kerosene lamps have a wick or mantle as light source, protected by a glass chimney or globe; lamps may be used on a t ...

s mounted in

parabolic reflectors A parabolic (or paraboloid or paraboloidal) reflector (or dish or mirror) is a reflective surface used to collect or project energy such as light, sound, or radio waves. Its shape is part of a circular paraboloid, that is, the surface generated ...

, each displaying fixed light seawards. In the early 1950s electric lamps replaced the oil lanterns; at the same time the wooden High Light was replaced by a metal framework tower. By the end of the decade the lights were fully automated; the High Light was deactivated some time after 1985 but Plover Scar remains active.

Keepers

Prior to automation the lighthouse keepers and their families lived in the lighthouse cottage next to the Cockersand lighthouse. Originally the accommodation was incorporated into the base of the lighthouse structure, but was later replaced by the cottage that still stands today. The keepers maintained both lighthouses, walking across to Plover Scar at low tide. The Raby family kept the lights for nearly a century, until 1945 when it was taken over by the Parkinson family. Mrs Parkinson was filmed maintaining the lights in 1948 by the British Pathé news organisation.

2016 collision damage

In March 2016, the lighthouse was badly damaged when it was struck by a passing commercial vessel, which was navigating its way at night to Glasson Docks. The collision dislodged the upper part of the tower, and although the light continued to operate, substantial reconstruction of the tower was deemed necessary. The subsequent repairs which started in September 2016 meant the stone tower had to be partially dismantled, with the lantern removed for renovation. Over 200 stone blocks from the dismantled tower were taken to a work site on the beach and numbered so that they could be reused when the light was rebuilt. The works also revealed that an extra outer layer of stones had been built around the tower, which had been added in 1856 to create an outer walkway. Although the works were delayed by various factors, they were finally completed in May 2017. File:Plover Scar Lighthouse (geograph 4945127).jpg, The damaged lighthouse in 2016 File:Plover Scar Lighthouse rebuilding (geograph 5147324).jpg, Renovation works in 2016 File:Plover Scar Lighthouse rebuilding (geograph 5215674).jpg, Stone blocks from the lighthouse removed during renovation File:Plover Scar Lighthouse rebuilding (geograph 5496464).jpg, The removed lantern room prior to refurbishment File:Plover Scar Lighthouse (geograph 5496439).jpg, The newly-rebuilt and restored lighthouse in 2017

References

External links