The Holyhead Breakwater Lighthouse stands on the Holyhead Breakwater outside the Welsh port of Holyhead, Anglesey.
.jpg) The Lighthouse on Holyhead Breakwater | |
 | |
| Location | Holyhead Anglesey Gwynedd Wales United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| OS grid | SH 257 848 |
| Coordinates | 53°19′51″N 4°37′09″W / 53.330898°N 4.619268°W |
| Tower | |
| Constructed | 1873 |
| Construction | Limestone |
| Automated | 1961 |
| Height | 19 metres (62 ft) |
| Shape | Square tower |
| Markings | White tower with a broad black band in the upper part, white lantern |
| Operator | Stena Lines[1] [2] |
| Heritage | Grade II listed building, National Monuments of Wales  |
| Light | |
| Focal height | 21 metres (69 ft) |
| Light source | Main power |
| Range | 14 nautical miles (26 km; 16 mi) |
| Characteristic | Fl (3) G 10s. |
History
editThe structure, which was completed in 1873, was most likely designed by Victorian civil engineer John Hawkshaw after he took control of Holyhead harbour works in 1857.[3] The lighthouse was the last major building completed on the breakwater.[4]
The three-storey black and white tower, unlike many contemporary lighthouses, is square.[3] It measures 22.25 feet (6.78 m) on each side, is 63 feet (19 m) high and rests 70 feet (21 m) above the high-water mark.[4] It has chamfered angles and a stepped plinth set on an oval platform on the breakwater.[3] A square design was chosen because it made the living quarters more comfortable.[4] Much of the original living accommodation inside remains intact.[4]
The tower's external features include a roll-moulded string-course projecting above the first floor level. There is also a moulded cornice which supports a walkway around a circular glass-housed light. The tower is surmounted by a weathervane and finial.[3] The enclosed fresnel lens creates a light with a range of 14 mi (12 nmi; 23 km).[3][4] This lighthouse is considered architecturally important because it forms part of the ambitious Victorian engineering works to create "harbours of refuge" throughout Great Britain.[3]
In the 19th century, packet ships approaching Holyhead in the fog would be warned by a bell operated from the lighthouse. In the late 1870s, this was supplemented with rockets which would complement the gun fired from the fog warning station on North Stack, Anglesey.[5]
The lighthouse was manned until November 1961, when it was automated. Among the last keepers in the 1950s were Arthur Burgess and David John Williams. The latter later became a speaker for Trinity House giving talks on the service.[4] Like most other lights in Gwynedd, it is now operated from Trinity House's Holyhead Control Centre.[3] Today the upkeep of the lighthouse is the responsibility of Holyhead port authority, which is operated by Stena Line.[4]
Gallery
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The Breakwater seaward from the land end -
End of the Breakwater and Lighthouse -
Lower level carried the breakwater railway -
The Lighthouse -
The light was fully automated in 1961
See also
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References
edit- ^ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Wales". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
- ^ Holyhead Breakwater Light Lighthouse Explorer. Retrieved 1 June 2016
- ^ a b c d e f g Hague, D. B. edited by S. Hughes (1994). Lighthouses of Wales, Their Architecture and Archaeology. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. ISBN 1-871184-08-8.
{{cite book}}:|first=has generic name (help) - ^ a b c d e f g Denton, A., & Leach, N. (2008). Lighthouses of Wales. Landmark Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84306-459-6.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Renton, Alan (2001). Lost Sounds: The Story of Coast Fog Signals. Dundurn Group. p. 185. ISBN 1870325834.
External links
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