Eddystone Lighthouse
An aerial view of the fourth lighthouse. (The stub of the third lighthouse is visible in the background.)
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 Devon
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| Location | offshore Rame Head Devon England |
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| Coordinates | 50°10′47.99″N 04°15′53.99″W / 50.1799972°N 4.2649972°WCoordinates: 50°10′47.99″N 04°15′53.99″W / 50.1799972°N 4.2649972°W |
| Year first constructed | 1698 (first) 1709 (second) 1759 (third) |
| Year first lit | 1882 (current) |
| Automated | 1982 |
| Deactivated | 1703 (first) 1755 (second) 1877 (third) |
| Construction | wooden tower (first and second) granite tower (third and current) |
| Tower shape | octagonal prism tower (first) dodecagonal prism tower (second) tapered cylindrical tower (third) tapered cylindrical tower with lantern and helipad on the top (current) |
| Height | 18 metres (59 ft) (first) 21 metres (69 ft) (second) 22 metres (72 ft) (third) 49 metres (161 ft) (current) |
| Focal height | 41 metres (135 ft) |
| Current lens | 4th order 250 mm rotating |
| Light source | solar power |
| Intensity | 26,200 candela |
| Range | 17 nautical miles (31 km) |
| Characteristic | Q (2) W 10s. Iso R 10s. at 28 metres (92 ft) focal heght |
| Fog signal | one blast every 30s. |
| Admiralty number | A0098 |
| NGA number | 0132 |
| ARLHS number | ENG 039 |
| Managing agent |
Trinity House |
Trinity House
The Eddystone Lighthouse is on the dangerous Eddystone Rocks, 9 statute miles (14 km) south of Rame Head, England, United Kingdom. While Rame Head is in Cornwall, the rocks are in Devon and composed of Precambrian gneiss.
The current structure is the fourth to be built on the site. The first and second were destroyed by storm and fire. The third, also known as Smeaton's Tower, is the best known because of its influence on lighthouse design and its importance in the development of concrete for building. Its upper portions have been re-erected in Plymouth as a monument. The first lighthouse, completed in 1699, was the world's first open ocean lighthouse although the Cordouan lighthouse preceded it as the first offshore lighthouse.
The Eddystone Rocks are an extensive reef approximately 12 miles (19 km) SSW of Plymouth Sound, one of the most important naval harbours of England, and midway between Lizard Point, Cornwall and Start Point. They are submerged at high spring tides and were so feared by mariners entering the English Channel that they often hugged the coast of France to avoid the danger, which thus resulted not only in shipwrecks locally, but on the rocks of the north coast of France and the Channel Islands. Given the difficulty of gaining a foothold on the rocks particularly in the predominant swell it was a long time before anyone attempted to place any warning on them.
The first lighthouse on Eddystone Rocks was an octagonal wooden structure built by Henry Winstanley. The lighthouse was also the first recorded instance of an offshore lighthouse. Construction started in 1696 and the light was lit on 14 November 1698. During construction, a French privateer took Winstanley prisoner and destroyed the work done so far on the foundations, causing Louis XIV to order Winstanley's release with the words "France is at war with England, not with humanity".
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Wikipedia