Anvil Point Lighthouse

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Anvil Point Lighthouse

Dorset

Anvil point lighthouse durlston dorset.jpg
Anvil Point Lighthouse
Location
Grid reference: SZ029769
Location: 50°35’31"N, 1°57’36"W
Characteristics
Height: 40 feet
Tower shape: cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern
Tower marking: white tower and lantern
Light: Fl W 10s.
Intensity: 1,080 candela
Focal height: 148 feet
Range: 9 nautical miles
Admiralty No.: A0496
History
Built 1881
Information
Owned by: Trinity House

The Anvil Point Lighthouse is a lighthouse located near Swanage in Dorset, looking out on the English Channel.

History

The lighthouse is built of local stone and was completed in 1881, and opened by Joseph Chamberlain, then Minister of Transport.

The lighthouse tower is 40 feet, the height of the light above the high-water mark is 148 feet. The light is positioned to give a waypoint for vessels passing along the Channel coast.

Originally the light was illuminated by a [[paraffin vapour burner. During 1960, the lighthouse was modernised and electrified. It was fully automated on 31 May 1991 and is now monitored and controlled from the Trinity House Operations Control Centre at Harwich.[1]

The lighthouse had a 1,000 watt filament lamp with an intensity of 500,000 candela. The lights range was about 19 nautical miles, but was reduced to 9 nautical miles following a review of aids to navigation in 2010.[2] The old fog signal was a 5-minute cannon. The fog signal was replaced during 1981 by new automatic equipment, but it has now been discontinued. In 2012, a LED lamp was installed above the rotating Fresnel lens to serve as the main light at Anvil Point; its character is, as it was previously, a white flash every 10 seconds. The old lens, though no longer in use, remains in place in the tower.

The lighthouse is near a visitor centre and is sometimes open to the public for tours. Some of the old buildings have been refurbished as holiday cottages.

Outside links

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("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Anvil Point Lighthouse)

References

Lighthouses of Trinity House

Great Britain:
Anvil PointBamburghBardseyBeachy HeadBerry HeadBishop RockBull PointCaldey IslandCoquetCromerCrow PointDungenessEddystoneFarneFlamboroughFlatholmGodrevyHartland PointHilbre IslandHolyheadHurst PointGuile Point EastHeugh HillLizardLongshipsLongstoneLowestoftLundy NorthLundy SouthLynmouth ForelandMonkstoneMumblesNab TowerNash PointNeedlesNorth ForelandPendeenPeninnisPoint LynasPortland BillRound IslandRoyal SovereignSkerriesSkokholmSmallsSouth BishopSouth StackSouthwoldSt Anthony'sSt BeesSt Tudwal'sSt Anns HeadSt CatherinesStart PointStrumble HeadTater DuTrevose HeadTrwyn DuWhitbyWolf Rock

Channel Islands and Gibraltar:

CasquetsEuropa PointLes HanoisSark