Hartland Point Lighthouse

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Hartland Point Lighthouse

Devon


Hartland Point lighthouse
Location
Location: Hartland Point
Grid reference: SS22992777
Location: 51°1’19"N, 4°31’31"W
Characteristics
Height: 60 feet
Tower shape: cylindrical tower with
balcony and lantern
Tower marking: white tower and lantern
Light: Fl (6) W15s.
Intensity: 635 candela
Focal height: 98 feet
Range: 8 nautical miles
History
Built 1874
Information
Owned by: Trinity House

Hartland Point Lighthouse stands at Hartland Point, a lonely cliff-girt headland on Devon's north coast. The point is held to mark the western limit, on the southern side, of the Bristol Channel: the Atlantic Ocean continues to the west. The lighthouse wa built in 1874 by Trinity House, who stil own and operate it.

The lighthouse is a Grade II listed building[1]

History

Drawing of the lighthouse in 1884

Designed by Sir James Douglass, construction began in November 1873 by contractor Mr Yerward[2] under the supervision of resident engineer Henry Norris,[3][4] Douglass and Norris having completed Souter Lighthouse in 1871.

The tower is 60 feet tall with the lamp 120 feet above mean sea level. When opened, the light was blessed by Frederick Temple, Bishop of Exeter, who later became Archbishop of Canterbury, and the light was lit for the first time by Lady Stucley of Hartland Abbey during the opening ceremony on 1 July 1874.[1][4] The optic, a first-order rotating catadioptric array designed by James Chance,[5] had been installed earlier that year.[6] It flashed alternately red and white,[7] the pattern being two white flashes followed by one red flash every thirty seconds.[8] The optic had ruby glass panels mounted over three of its nine lens panels, these panels being around double the width of the other six (to compensate for the loss of intensity of light passing through coloured glass).[9] The light could be seen up to 25.0 miles (40.2 km) away from the coast.

The lighthouse in 1973

The lighthouse was initially provided with a reed fog signal, sounding once every two minutes,[10] which was replaced by a two-tone fog siren later in the 19th century; both installations were powered by caloric engines. In 1911 this was replaced with a new reed horn, and oil engines replaced the caloric ones.[11] The fog signal was sounded from a small building a little to the north-west of the lighthouse.

The lighthouse was built with accommodation for four keepers and their families;[12] it was protected by a 98.4 feet (30.0 m) long sea wall which was built in 1925 to prevent erosion of the rocks on which it stands.[13] The large concrete structures immediately to the south of the lighthouse were to provide the keepers with fresh water.

The light was electrified in 1927,[13] when the optic was replaced by a biform (i.e. two-tier) third-order sextuple-flashing rotating catadioptric optic, designed and built by Chance Brothers; the light had a range of 17 nautical miles and displayed six quick flashes in 7.5 seconds.[14][15] It was lit by two 3 kW filament lamps, one on each tier (the lower lamp was fitted to a turntable lamp changer, which automatically lit a standby lamp (either electric or acetylene) in the event of a bulb or power failure).[16] At the same time a new diaphone fog signal was installed, sounding three blasts every 75 seconds.

In January 1959 the lighthouse was connected to mains electricity; the generator formerly in use was retained for emergency use.[17] Some years afterwards the fog diaphone was replaced with an LIE300 electric horn.[11]

The lighthouse in 2012

The tower was automated in 1984 and controlled from Trinity House Operations Centre at Harwich in Essex.[18] The keepers' dwellings have since been demolished to make room for a Helipad to be constructed. This was necessary due to the precarious nature of the access road which is liable to frequent rock falls and landslips. Vehicular access is now very difficult and the gates tend to remain locked. The fog signal was discontinued in 2010.[19]

Having carried out a thorough assessment of the requirements for Aids to Navigation off Hartland Point, Trinity House determined that the light at this location could be reduced to a nominal range of 8 nautical miles. This light can be more economically provided by a modern LED beacon in front of the original lighthouse, with no detriment to the safety of the Mariner.[20] Consequently, the old light was decommissioned in 2012.

The Lighthouse was marketed and sold by Trinity House at a £500,000 guide price, consisting of "the former lighthouse, three bedroom living accommodation over two storeys, various stores, a helipad and access via a surfaced road that leads up the cliff to the gated entrance. The site in total amounts to about 16 acres of cliff and coastline, and has the best sea views in the area."[21] In 2022 the unique biform optic was stolen: during restoration works it had been placed in a storage facility in Ilfracombe, after which it had been due to be reinstated in the tower; a reward was offered for its return.[22]

Outside links

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

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 National Heritage List 1309148: Hartland Point Lighthouse (Grade II listing)
  2. ↑ "Hartland", Exeter Flying Post: 7, 2 Aug 1871 
  3. ↑ "Hartland", Exeter and Plymouth Gazette: 7, 18 April 1874 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Hartland - Opening of the Lighthouse", Exeter and Plymouth Gazette: 7, 3 July 1874 
  5. ↑ "Sir James Chance, Bart. [obituary]". The Engineer 93: 44. 10 January 1902. 
  6. ↑ "Photo of the optic (with its front red panels removed)". http://www.tobychance.com/downloads/Review%20Trinity%20House%20Lantern.pdf. 
  7. ↑ Davenport Adams, W. H. (1891). The Story of our Lighthouses and Lightships: Descriptive and Historical. London, Edinburgh & New York: Thomas Nelson & Sons. p. 253. https://pharology.eu/resources/books/23)%20The%20Story%20of%20Our%20Lighthouses%20and%20Lightships%20-%20descriptive%20and%20historical%20(1891).pdf. Retrieved 27 February 2019. 
  8. ↑ The Nautical Magazine for 1874 (volume XLIII). London: Simpkin, Marshall & co.. 1874. p. 432. 
  9. ↑ Littell, Eliakim; Littell, Robert S. (1887). Littell's Living Age (Volume 174). London: T.H. Carter & Company. p. 247. 
  10. ↑ "Fog Signals". Parliamentary Papers, Volume LXIV 23 (337): 2–4. 1 August 1879. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Renton, Alan (2001). Lost Sounds: The Story of Coast Fog Signals. Caithness, Scotland: Whittles. p. 96. 
  12. ↑ "Photo". https://trinityhousehistory.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/hartland-point-lighthouse.jpg. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Hartland Point Lighthouse". Trinity House. http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/interactive/gallery/hartland_point.html. 
  14. ↑ Cooper, F. W. (1979). Twenty Years in Lighthouses. United States Lighthouse Society. pp. 10–14. https://uslhs.org/sites/default/files/attached-files/Twenty%20Years%20in%20Lighthouses.pdf. Retrieved 13 March 2019. 
  15. ↑ "Photo". Shipping Wonders of the World (3). 27 February 1936. https://www.shippingwondersoftheworld.com/lighthouses.html. Retrieved 21 March 2019. 
  16. ↑ "Coastal Warnings to Mariners that Interest the Holiday Visitor". The Illustrated London News 183: 315. 26 August 1933. 
  17. ↑ "Mains Electricity at Hartland Lighthouse". https://www.bidefordarchive.org.uk/search/46-towns-villages/hartland/788-mains-electricity-at-hartland-lighthouse. 
  18. ↑ "Hartland Point Lighthouse". Photographers Resource. http://www.photographers-resource.co.uk/A_heritage/Lighthouses/LG2_EW/Hartland_Point_Lighthouse.htm. 
  19. ↑ "Hartland Point Lighthouse". http://www.worldwidelighthouses.com/Lighthouses/English-Lighthouses/Privately-Owned/Hartland-Point. 
  20. ↑ "Hartland Point Lighthouse". Trinity House website. http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/mariner_info/notice_to_mariners/f/01112011.html. 
  21. ↑ "Hartland Point Lighthouse, North Devon - Archive - Trinity House". Trinity House website. http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/commercial/redundant_items/archive/hartland_point_lighthouse_north_devon.html. 
  22. ↑ Yedroudj, Latifa (6 February 2022). "£5,000 reward for stolen £1 million lighthouse lantern which could be in West Midlands". Coventry Telegraph. https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/5000-reward-stolen-1-million-22978571. 
Lighthouses of Trinity House

Great Britain:
Anvil Point • Bamburgh • Bardsey • Beachy Head • Berry Head • Bishop Rock • Bull Point • Caldey Island • Coquet • Cromer • Crow Point • Dungeness • Eddystone • Farne • Flamborough • Flatholm • Godrevy • Hartland Point • Hilbre Island • Holyhead • Hurst Point • Guile Point East • Heugh Hill • Lizard • Longships • Longstone • Lowestoft • Lundy North • Lundy South • Lynmouth Foreland • Monkstone • Mumbles • Nab Tower • Nash Point • Needles • North Foreland • Pendeen • Peninnis • Point Lynas • Portland Bill • Round Island • Royal Sovereign • Skerries • Skokholm • Smalls • South Bishop • South Stack • Southwold • St Anthony's • St Bees • St Tudwal's • St Anns Head • St Catherines • Start Point • Strumble Head • Tater Du • Trevose Head • Trwyn Du • Whitby • Wolf Rock

Channel Islands and Gibraltar:

Casquets • Europa Point • Les Hanois • Sark

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