Smeaton's Tower is a redundant lighthouse, now a memorial to civil engineer

John Smeaton John Smeaton (8 June 1724 – 28 October 1792) was an English civil engineer responsible for the design of bridges, canals, harbours and lighthouses. He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent scholar, who introduced various ...

, designer of the third and most notable

Eddystone Lighthouse The Eddystone Lighthouse is a lighthouse on the Eddystone Rocks, south of Rame Head in Cornwall, England. The rocks are submerged below the surface of the sea and are composed of Precambrian gneiss. View at 1:50000 scale The current structu ...

. A major step forward in lighthouse design, Smeaton's structure was in use from 1759 to 1877, until erosion of the ledge it was built upon forced new construction. The tower was largely dismantled and rebuilt on

Plymouth Hoe Plymouth Hoe, referred to locally as the Hoe, is a large south-facing open public space in the English coastal city of Plymouth, Devon. The Hoe is adjacent to and above the low limestone cliffs that form the seafront and commands views of Pl ...

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

, Devon, where it stands today.

History

Background

England’s coasts are notorious for rough weather, dangerous seas and deathly obstacles. The Eddystone rocks are among them. Several attempts were made to place a marker on these reefs. The first attempt was called the Winstanley Lighthouse. After it was destroyed in the 1703 storm, a second one called the Rudyard lighthouse was built. This one was also destroyed, this time by a fire in 1755. Born in Austhorpe,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

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 ...

in 1724, John Smeaton is considered the father of

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

. He is recognized for his scientific achievements, including the increased efficiency of water wheels. After the Rudyard lighthouse was destroyed, there was intense pressure to build a third lighthouse quickly. Smeaton was recommended by the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

to design a lighthouse on the Eddystone Rocks in what is considered his greatest achievement.

Construction

Smeaton had to build his lighthouse to be strong enough to survive the elements (the first lighthouse was destroyed in a storm). He began by designing his lighthouse to resemble an oak tree. This in itself made the tower into a strong shape. He rediscovered the use of

hydraulic lime Hydraulic lime (HL) is a general term for a variety of lime different from calcium oxide (quicklime), that sets by hydration and consists of calcium silicate and calcium aluminate, compounds that can harden in contact with water. This contras ...

, a form of concrete used in Roman times. The technique allowed concrete to set under water, as Smeaton put granite blocks together using

dovetail joint A dovetail joint or simply dovetail is a joinery technique most commonly used in woodworking joinery (carpentry), including furniture, cabinets, log buildings, and traditional timber framing. Noted for its resistance to being pulled apart, a ...

s and marble

dowels The dowel is a cylindrical shape made of wood, plastic, or metal. In its original manufactured form, a dowel is long and called a ''dowel rod'', which are often cut into shorter ''dowel pins''. Dowels are commonly used as structural reinforceme ...

. Construction started in 1756 at a site in Millbay, where Smeaton built a jetty and a workyard in the south-western corner of the harbour to unload and work on stones. Timber rails of gauge were laid for four-wheeled flat trucks, which were used to move masonry around the site. A 10-ton ship named ''Eddystone Boat'' was based here, and transported worked stones out to the reef. The ship carried the 2¼-ton foundation stone out in the morning of 12 June 1756. The work was completed in August 1759 at a cost of £40,000 (£ with inflation).Majdalany, Fred: ''The Eddystone Light''. 1960 Many Cornish tin miners were employed in its construction. To avoid the possibility of press ganging, a practice which was common at the time, Trinity House arranged with the Admiralty that the workers would be immune from the press. Each worker was issued a medal to confirm he was a worker at the lighthouse. The lighthouse was in height, and had a diameter at the base of and at the top of .

As lighthouse

After the structure was completed, the lighthouse's 24 candles were lit on 16 October 1759. Each candle weighed between . A timepiece placed alongside the light was set to chime every half-hour (30 min), alerting the lighthouse keeper to the need to replace expired candles. The lighthouse candles were replaced by oil lamps and reflectors from 1810. Further major renovations were carried out in 1841 by engineer Henry Norris, including the filling of a hole in the rock close to the tower's foundation. Four years later the oil lamps and reflectors were replaced with an improved lamp and

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens (optics), lens which reduces the amount of material required compared to a conventional lens by dividing the lens into a set of concentric annular sections. The simpler Dioptrics, d ...

assembly. The lighthouse remained in use until 1877, when it was discovered that rocks upon which it stood were becoming eroded. Each time a large wave hit, the lighthouse shook from side to side.

As memorial

Smeaton's Tower ceased operation in February 1882 following the installation of a temporary light atop its successor ( Douglass's Tower), then under construction on an adjacent rock. In 1882, the upper part of Smeaton's Tower was dismantled and rebuilt as a memorial to Smeaton on a new base on

, replacing the triangular obelisk that had been built there by Trinity House as a navigation aid in the early 19th century. The site was opened to the public by the Mayor of Plymouth on 24 September 1884. The foundation and stub of the old tower remain on

Eddystone Rocks The Eddystone or Eddystone Rocks are a seaswept and eroded group of rocks ranging southwest of Rame Head in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Although the nearest point on the mainland to the Eddystone is in Cornwall, the rocks fall within the ...

, close to the current lighthouse. Since the foundation proved too strong to be dismantled, it was left where it stood. In 1860, a new

penny A penny is a coin (: pennies) or a unit of currency (: pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. At present, it is ...

coin was brought into circulation on which the lighthouse was depicted in the background behind

Britannia The image of Britannia () is the national personification of United Kingdom, Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used by the Romans in classical antiquity, the Latin was the name variously appli ...

, remaining on the penny until 1894. The lighthouse was also depicted on a number of tokens issued during the 19th century in Devon with face values from two pence to one shilling. An 1850 replica of Smeaton's lighthouse, Hoad Monument, still stands above the town of

Ulverston Ulverston is a market town and civil parish in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it lies a few miles south of the Lake District Lake District National Park, National Park and j ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

as a memorial to naval administrator Sir John Barrow. On 19 April 1913 a home-made bomb with the words 'votes for women' and 'death in ten minutes' painted on the outside was found in the entrance to Smeaton's Tower, presumably as part of the campaign for women's suffrage. The wick had been lit but blew out in the

wind Wind is the natural movement of atmosphere of Earth, air or other gases relative to a planetary surface, planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heatin ...

, preventing detonation. Smeaton's Tower has been a Grade I-listed building since 1954. It is open for visitors, who may climb 93 steps, including steep ladders, to the lantern room, and observe

Plymouth Sound Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a deep inlet or sound in the English Channel near Plymouth in England. Description Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point in Devon, a distance of abo ...

and the city. On 15 October 2009, as part of a celebration organised by the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a Charitable organization, charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters ar ...

, the lantern of Smeaton's Tower was once again lit with 24 candles to mark the 250th anniversary of the lighthouse's first illumination. In 2020 a Cornish granite bust of Smeaton by Philip Chatfield, commissioned by The Box, Plymouth and funded by Trinity House, was installed in the tower's lantern chamber before its reopening. The bust is based on a plaster one donated by the

in about 1980, but later removed for safety reasons.

Gallery

File:Smeaton's Tower, The Hoe, Plymouth (3977156995).jpg, Smeaton's Tower on Plymouth Hoe File:Smeaton's Tower (26638753299).jpg, Close-up of the tower File:Smeatons Tower Light - geograph.org.uk - 67009.jpg, Sunlight through the lantern room File:Granite bust by Philip Chatfield in Smeaton's Tower Plymouth.jpg, Granite bust by Philip Chatfield in the tower's lantern chamber File:Smeatons Tower 250 Year Anniversary (4023953306).jpg, The tower lit by candles in 2009 to mark its 250th anniversary File:Plymouth - Tinside Pool, Plymouth Sound and Smeaton's Tower. - geograph.org.uk - 1180751.jpg, Tinside Pool, Plymouth Sound File:Phare-d-Eddystone-Rocks.jpg, The original base of Smeaton's Tower still in position next to the current Eddystone Lighthouse

References

External links

* {{Authority control Lighthouses completed in 1759 Towers completed in 1759 Museums in Plymouth, Devon Lighthouses in Devon Grade I listed buildings in Devon Grade I listed lighthouses Tourist attractions in Plymouth, Devon Lighthouse museums in England Buildings and structures in Plymouth, Devon Observation towers in the United Kingdom Industrial archaeological sites in Devon