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An aerial view of the fourth lighthouse (The stub of the third lighthouse can be seen in the background)
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Devon , England (offshore)
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1698 / 1705 / 1759 / 1882
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1982
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1703 / 1755 / 1877 / -
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wood / wood / masonry / masonry
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octagonal / conical / conical / conical
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/ / 18 metres / 49 metres
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22 Nautical Miles (41 Kilometres )
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white light flashes twice every 10 seconds
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The is situated on the treacherous
Eddystone Rocks , some 9
Statute Miles (14
Kilometres ) south west of
Rame Head . Whilst Rame Head is in
Cornwall , the rocks are within the city limits of
Plymouth in the county of
Devon .
1 View at 1:50000 scale.
The current structure is the fourth lighthouse to be built on the site. The first and second lighthouses were both destroyed in accidents. The third lighthouse, also known as , is perhaps the best known of the four, because of its influence on modern lighthouse design and its importance in the development of
Concrete as a building material. Its upper portions have been re-erected in the nearby city of
Plymouth as a monument.
2
The first lighthouse to be erected on the Eddystone Rocks was an octagonal wooden structure built by
Henry Winstanley . Construction started in
1696 and the light was first lit on
14 November 1698 . During the construction period, the lighthouse first made news when a
French Privateer took Winstanley prisoner, causing
Louis XIV to order his release with the words "''France is at war with England, not with humanity''".
3
The lighthouse survived its first winter but was found to be badly in need of repair. In doing this, the top of the structure was removed and replaced, a fact which causes some sources to state that there have been five lighthouses on the Eddystone Rock. Winstanley's tower then lasted in its modified state until the
Great Storm Of 1703 erased almost all trace of it on
27 November . Winstanley was on the lighthouse at the time, completing some additions to the structure. No trace was ever found of him.
45
wooden cone,
1709 -
1755 sketch, not scaled .]]
Following the destruction of the first lighthouse, a Captain Lovett acquired the lease of the rock, and by an of 1
D per ton, both inward and outward. He commissioned
John Rudyard (or Rudyerd) to design the new lighthouse, which was built as a conical wooden structure and was first lit in
1709 . This design proved much more durable than its predecessor, surviving for nearly 50 years.
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However on the night of the
2nd December 1755 , the top of the lantern caught fire, probably through a spark from one of the candles used to illuminate the light. The two lighthouse keepers did their best to put out the fire by throwing water upwards from a bucket, but were gradually driven out onto the rock as the tower burnt down from above them. Fortunately the fire was noticed from the shore, and the keepers were rescued by boat. It is said that
Henry Hall , who was one of the keepers and 94 years old at the time of the fire, subsequently died from
Lead Poisoning because of the quantity of molten
Lead (from the lantern roof) he had ingested whilst fighting the fire.
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The third lighthouse was perhaps the most notable as it marked a major step forward in the design of such structures. Recommended to the task by the
Royal Society ,
Civil Engineer John Smeaton modelled the shape of the lighthouse on that of an
Oak Tree , albeit an oak tree built of substantial
Granite blocks. He pioneered the use of '
Hydraulic Lime ' (a form of
Concrete that will set under water) and developed a technique of securing the granite blocks together using
Dovetail Joint s and
Marble Dowel s. Construction started in
1756 and the light was first lit in
1759 .
8
While in use, Smeaton's lighthouse was 59
Feet (18
Metre s) in height, and had a diameter at the base of 26 feet (8 metres) and at the top of 17 feet (5 metres). It remained in use until
1877 when it was discovered that the rocks upon which it stood were becoming eroded—each time a large wave hit the lighthouse it would shake from side to side. Smeaton's lighthouse was largely dismantled and rebuilt on
Plymouth Hoe , in the city of
Plymouth , as a memorial. The foundations and stub of the old tower remain on the Eddystone Rocks, situated close to the new (and more solid) foundations of the current lighthouse
9 - the foundations proved too strong to be dismantled so the Victorians left them where they stood (the irony of this lighthouse is that although the previous two were destroyed, this one proved to be stronger than the rock upon which it was built and could not even be intentionally taken apart).
The current, fourth, lighthouse was designed by
James Douglass , using
Robert Stevenson's developments of Smeaton's original techniques. The light was first lit in
1882 , and is still in use. It is operated by
Trinity House . It was automated in
1982 , and was the first Trinity House lighthouse to be so converted. In recent years the outline of the tower has been markedly changed by the construction of a
Helipad above the lantern, to allow maintenance crews to gain access by
Helicopter .
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The tower is 49 metres high, and it carries a white light which flashes twice every 10 seconds. The light is visible out to a range of 22
Nautical Miles (41
Kilometres ), and is supplemented by a
Fog Signal of 3 blasts every 60 seconds.
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The Eddystone Lighthouse inspired the
Shanty that begins
My father was the keeper o' the Eddystone light.
He slept with a Mermaid one fine night.
From this union there came three:
commented that Canada's foundations were as "strong as the foundations of Eddystone"''The Globe'',
31 October 1864 , 4.
The term "Foundations of Eddystone" was used as a chapter title in ''The Canadian Federalist Experiment: from Defiant Monarchy to Reluctant Republic'' by
Frederick Vaughan .
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