The Portland Breakwater Lighthouse is a functioning

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

located at

Portland Harbour Portland Harbour is beside the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England. Construction of the harbour began in 1849; when completed in 1872, its surface area made it the largest human-made harbour in the world, and it remains ...

Isle of Portland The Isle of Portland is a tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. The southern tip, Portland Bill, lies south of the resort of Weymouth, Dorset, Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A barrier ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is situated on the southern end of the north-east breakwater. The lighthouse, a white hexagonal

cast-iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

structure, was established in 1905. Built by

Chance Brothers Chance Brothers and Company was an English glassworks originally based in Spon Lane, Smethwick, West Midlands (county), West Midlands (formerly in Staffordshire), in England. It was a leading glass manufacturer and a pioneer of British glassma ...

, initially it displayed a white flash every five seconds and had a visible range of .London Gazette, Issue 27778, Page 2286, 24 March 1905
/ref> It was also provided 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 ...

, sounding once every ten seconds in foggy weather. The light was originally lit by oil, later changed to gas and is today lit electrically with a modern LED lamp. The light was owned by the Admiralty, but managed by

Trinity House The Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond, also known as Trinity House (and formally as The Master, Wardens and Assistants of the Guild Fraternity or Brotherhood of the most glorious and undivided Trinity and of St Clement in the ...

(who, until the light was automated in the late 1960s, provided three resident keepers accommodated in a nearby dwelling on the breakwater). The lighthouse was restored and repainted in 1995, prior to the closure of Portland Naval Base; subsequently, ownership of the lighthouse (along with the harbour as a whole) was vested in Portland Port Ltd, and the Portland Harbour Authority took over its management. The lighthouse underwent restoration again in 2016. The lighthouse's current use continues to aid navigation of boats in the area, warning mariners of the breakwaters by giving a white flash every 10 seconds. Surrounding the lighthouse are various defensive buildings such as pillboxes. The former

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 ...

from the lighthouse has been placed in Weymouth Museum.

Lighthouse Staff

In a 2005 newsletter of the South Dorset Amateur Radio, former keeper John Trotter recalled memories of the lighthouse:

References

External links

Portland Port
1905 establishments in England Lighthouses completed in 1905 Isle of Portland Lighthouses in Dorset Lighthouses of the English Channel Towers in Dorset {{UK-lighthouse-stub

Lighthouse Staff

See also

References

External links