View source for Eddystone Lighthouse

{{Short description|Lighthouse in Cornwall, England}}
{{distinguish|Eddystone Point Lighthouse, Tasmania}}
{{For|the pop group|Edison Lighthouse}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox lighthouse
  | name = Eddystone Lighthouse
  | image_name = Eddystonelighthouse.jpg
  | image_width = 270px
  | caption =  An aerial view of the fourth lighthouse. (The stub of the [[Smeaton's Lighthouse|third lighthouse]] is visible in the background.)
  | location = Offshore [[Rame Head]],<br /> England, United Kingdom
  | coordinates = {{coord|50|10|48|N|04|15|54|W|region:GB_type:landmark_scale:750000|display=inline,title}}
  | yearbuilt = 1698 (first)<br />1709 (second)<br />1759 (third)<br />1878–1881 (fourth)
  | yearlit = 1882 (current)
  | automated = 1982
  | yeardeactivated = 1703 (first)<br />1755 (second)<br />1877 (third)
  | construction = Wooden tower (first and second)<br /> Granite tower (third and current)
  | shape = Octagonal tower (first)<br /> Dodecagonal tower (second)<br />Tapered cylindrical tower (third)<br /> Tapered cylindrical tower with lantern and helipad on the top (current)
  | height = {{convert|18|m|ft}} (first)<br /> {{convert|21|m|ft}} (second)<br /> {{convert|22|m|ft}} (third)<br />{{convert|49|m|ft}} (current)
  | focalheight = {{convert|41|m|ft}}
  | lens = 4th order {{convert|250|mm|in|0|abbr=on}} rotating
  | intensity = 26,200 candela
  | range = {{convert|17|nmi|km}}
  | characteristic = Fl (2) W 10s.<br />Iso R 10s. at {{convert|28|m|ft}} focal height
  | fogsignal = One blast every 30s.
  | managingagent = [[Trinity House]]<ref>{{Cite rowlett|engsw|accessdate=30 April 2016}}</ref><ref>[https://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouses-and-lightvessels/eddystone-lighthouse Eddystone Lighthouse] Trinity House. Retrieved 30 April 2016</ref>
}}

The '''Eddystone Lighthouse''' is a [[lighthouse]] on the [[Eddystone Rocks]], {{convert|9|smi|km}} south of [[Rame Head]] in [[Cornwall]], England. The rocks are submerged,<ref>[[Ordnance Survey]] mapping; the rocks form part of the unitary district of the City of Plymouth, in the [[ceremonial county]] of Devon</ref> and are composed of [[Precambrian]] [[gneiss]].<ref name=osinfo>{{cite web | title = Get A Map | url = http://getamap.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getamap/frames.htm?mapAction=gaz&gazName=g&gazString=SX3830333632 | publisher = [[Ordnance Survey]] | access-date = 6 September 2006 | archive-date = 9 June 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210609015400/http://getamap.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getamap/frames.htm?mapAction=gaz | url-status = dead }} View at 1:50000 scale</ref>

The current structure is the fourth to be built on the site. The first lighthouse (Winstanley's) was swept away in a powerful storm, killing its architect and five other men in the process. The second (Rudyard's) stood for fifty years before it burned down. The third (Smeaton's) is renowned because of its influence on [[Lighthouse|lighthouse design]] and its importance in the development of concrete for building; its upper portions were re-erected in Plymouth as a monument.<ref name=thinfo>{{cite web |title=Eddystone history |url=http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouses/lighthouse_list/eddystone.html |publisher=[[Trinity House]] |access-date=27 November 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108082624/http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouses/lighthouse_list/eddystone.html |archive-date=8 November 2014 }}</ref> The first lighthouse, completed in 1699, was the world's first open ocean lighthouse, although the [[Cordouan Lighthouse]] off the western French coast preceded it as the first offshore lighthouse.<ref name="Winstanley">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/340721/lighthouse/72148/The-beginning-of-the-modern-era|title=Lighthouse| encyclopedia =[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|access-date=5 July 2016}}</ref>

== The need for a light ==
The Eddystone Rocks are an extensive reef approximately {{convert|12|mi|km}} SSW off [[Plymouth Sound]], one of the most important naval harbours of England, and midway between [[Lizard Point, Cornwall]] and [[Start Point, Devon|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.<ref>{{cite book |first=Samuel|last=Smiles|title=The Lives of the Engineers|year=1861|volume=2|page=16|url=https://archive.org/stream/livesofengineers02smil#page/16/mode/2up}}</ref> 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.

== Winstanley's lighthouse ==
[[File:Edystone Winstanley lighthouse Smeaton 1813.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Original Winstanley lighthouse, Eddystone Rock, by Jaaziell Johnston, 1813]]
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.<ref name="Winstanley" /> 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".<ref name="thinfo" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mountedgcumbe.gov.uk/visit/exhibitions/a-story-in-100-objects/01-winstanleys-light/|title=01 Winstanleys Light|accessdate=29 July 2024}}</ref>

The lighthouse survived its first winter but was in need of repair, and was subsequently changed to a dodecagonal (12 sided) stone clad exterior on a timber-framed construction with an octagonal top section as can be seen in the later drawings or paintings. The octagonal top section (or 'lantern') was {{convert|15|ft|abbr=on}} high and {{convert|11|ft|abbr=on}} in diameter, its eight windows each made up of 36 individual glass panes. It was lit by '60 candles at a time, besides a great hanging lamp'.<ref name="Nancollas2018">{{cite book |last1=Nancollas |first1=Tom |title=Seashaken Houses: A Lighthouse History from Eddystone to Fastnet |date=2018 |publisher=Particular Books |page=108}}</ref>

Winstanley's tower lasted until the [[great storm of 1703]] erased almost all trace on {{OldStyleDateNY|8&nbsp;December|27&nbsp;November}}. Winstanley was on the lighthouse, completing additions to the structure. No trace was found of him, or of the other five men in the lighthouse.<ref name=edthis>{{cite web |title=Eddystone Lighthouse History |url=http://www.eddystoneeel.com/LIGHTHOUSE%20HISTORY.htm |publisher=Eddystone Tatler Ltd |access-date=7 September 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060502095435/http://www.eddystoneeel.com/LIGHTHOUSE%20HISTORY.htm |archive-date=2 May 2006 }}</ref><ref name=bbcgrs>{{cite web|title=The Great Storm of 1703 |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/understanding/1703_storm.shtml |publisher=[[BBC]] |access-date=7 September 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060830015836/http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/understanding/1703_storm.shtml |archive-date=30 August 2006 }}</ref>

The cost of construction and five years' maintenance totalled £7,814 7''s.''6''d'', during which time dues totalling £4,721 19''s.''3''d'' had been collected at one penny per ton from passing vessels.

== Rudyard's lighthouse ==
[[File:Eddystone Lighthouse RMG BHC1796.tiff|thumb|left|upright|A contemporary painting of Rudyard's lighthouse by [[Isaac Sailmaker]].]]
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Eddystone Lighthouse Act 1705
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of Great Britain
| long_title            = An Act for the better enabling the Master, Wardens, and Assistants, of Trinity House, to rebuild the Light-house on The Edystone Rock.
| year                  = 1705
| citation              = {{ubli|[[4 & 5 Ann.]] c. 7{{efn|name=StatutesOfTheRealm|reference=This is the citation in ''[[The Statutes of the Realm]]''.}}|[[4 Ann.]] c. 20{{efn|name=StatutesAtLarge|reference=This is the citation in ''[[The Statutes at Large]]''.}}}}
| territorial_extent    = [[England and Wales]]
| royal_assent          = 19 March 1706
| commencement          =  25 October 1705{{efn|name=StartOfSession|Start of session.}}
| repeal_date           = 15 July 1867
| amendments            = [[Eddystone Lighthouse Act 1709]]
| repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law Revision Act 1867]]
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = Repealed
| original_text         = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000033905846&seq=524
| collapsed             = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = {{visible anchor|Eddystone Lighthouse Act 1709}}
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of Great Britain
| long_title            = An Act for explaining and making more effectual an Act, for the better enabling the Master, Wardens, and Assistants of Trinity House, to re-build the Light-house on the Edistone Rock.
| year                  = 1709
| citation              = [[8 Ann.]] c. 17
| territorial_extent    = [[Great Britain]]
| royal_assent          = 5 April 1710
| commencement          = 15 November 1709{{efn|name=StartOfSession}}
| repeal_date           = 15 July 1867
| amends                = [[Eddystone Lighthouse Act 1705]]
| repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law Revision Act 1867]]
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = Repealed
| original_text         = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000033905853&view=1up&seq=294
| collapsed             = yes
}}

Following the destruction of the first lighthouse, Captain John Lovett<ref>{{cite book |page=130 |first=Susan E. |last=Whyman |title=Sociability and Power in Late-Stuart England: The Cultural Worlds of the Verneys 1660–1720|publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-19-925023-3 }}</ref>{{efn|WBName|reference=Later Colonel John Lovett (c. 1660–1710) of [[Soulbury#Liscombe Park|Liscombe Park Buckinghamshire]] and Corfe, (son and heir of former merchant in Turkey, Christopher Lovett, lord mayor of Dublin 1676–1677) and uncle of noted architect [[Edward Lovett Pearce]] 1699–1733.}} acquired the lease of the rock, and by an [[act of Parliament]], the '''{{visible anchor|Eddystone Lighthouse Act 1705}}''' ([[4 & 5 Ann.]] c. 7), was allowed to charge passing ships a [[wiktionary:toll|toll]] of one penny per ton. He commissioned [[John Rudyard]] (or Rudyerd) to design the new lighthouse.

[[File:Rudyard lighthouse.jpeg|thumb|upright|right|Cross section of Rudyard's lighthouse.]]
Rudyard's lighthouse, in contrast to its predecessor, was a smooth conical tower, shaped 'so as to offer the least possible resistance to wind and wave'.<ref name="Story1876">{{cite book |title=The Story of John Smeaton and the Eddystone Lighthouse |date=1876 |publisher=T. Nelson & Sons |location=London |page=26}}</ref> It was built on a base of solid wood, formed from layers of timber beams, laid horizontally on seven flat steps which had been cut into the upper face of the sloping rock. On top of this base rose several courses of stone, interspersed with further layers of wood, which was designed to serve as [[ballast]] for the tower. This substructure rose to a height of {{convert|63|ft}}, on top of which were raised four storeys of timber. The entire structure was sheathed in vertical wooden planks and anchored to the reef using 36 wrought iron bolts, forged to fit deep [[dovetail]]ed holes which had been cut in the reef.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cichw1.net/pmlensturtedy.html |title=Contemporary illustrations with description by Rudyerd. |access-date=20 August 2019 |archive-date=28 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028204758/https://www.cichw1.net/pmlensturtedy.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The vertical planks were installed by two master-shipwrights from [[Woolwich Dockyard]] and were [[caulk]]ed like those of a ship.<ref name="Nancollas2018" /> The tower was topped with an octagonal lantern, which brought it to a total height of {{convert|92|ft}}.<ref name="Story1876" /> A light was first shone from the tower on {{OldStyleDate|8 August|1708|28 July}}<ref>{{cite book |first=Fred |last=Majdalany |title=The Red Rocks of Eddystone |location=London |publisher=Longmans |year=1959 |page=86 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-149725 |title=A Prospect and Section of the Light-House on the Eddystone Rock off of Plymouth. Rebuilt... The Lights put up therein ye 28th July 1708... Design'd and Built by Jon Rudyerd Gent (with key) [PAH9778] |author1-last=Lens |author1-first=Bernard |author2=John Sturt |date=1708 |access-date=13 September 2022 |via=[[National Maritime Museum]] }}</ref> and the work was completed in 1709. The light was provided by 24 candles.<ref name="Nancollas2018" /> Rudyard's lighthouse proved more durable than its predecessor, surviving and serving its purpose on the reef for nearly 50 years.<ref name="thinfo" />

In 1715 Captain Lovett died and his lease was purchased by Robert Weston, Esq., in company with two others (one of whom was Rudyard).<ref name="Smiles1879">{{cite book |last1=Smiles |first1=Samuel |title=Lives of the Engineers: Harbours – Lighthouses – Bridges. |date=1879 |publisher=J. Murray |location=London |page=110 |doi=10.1680/lotehlbsar.51287 |isbn=978-0-7277-5128-7 |url=https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/abs/10.1680/lotehlbsar.51287.0009 |access-date=21 March 2021}}</ref>

[[File:Outline of slab of lead removed from lung, having fallen from the roof of Eddystone lighthouse.jpg|thumb|right|Outline of slab of lead removed from the stomach of [[Henry Hall (lighthouse keeper)|Henry Hall]], who swallowed the molten lead as it fell from the lantern roof during the 1755 fire]]
On the night of 2 December 1755, the top of the lantern caught fire, probably through a spark from one of the candles used to illuminate the light, or else through a fracture in the chimney which passed through the lantern from the stove in the kitchen below.<ref name="Nancollas2018" /> The three keepers threw water upwards from a bucket but were driven onto the rock and were rescued by boat as the tower burnt down. Keeper [[Henry Hall (lighthouse keeper)|Henry Hall]], who was 94 at the time, died several days later from ingesting molten lead from the lantern roof.<ref name="thinfo" /> A report on this case was submitted to the [[Royal Society]] by physician Edward Spry,<ref name=spry>{{cite journal|last=Spry|first=Edward|author2=John Huxham|title=An Account of the Case of a Man Who Died of the Effects of the Fire at Eddy-Stone Light-House. By Mr. Edward Spry, Surgeon at Plymouth|journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society|year=1755–1756|volume=49|pages=477–484|jstor=104958|doi=10.1098/rstl.1755.0066|bibcode=1755RSPT...49..477S|s2cid=186209316}}</ref> and the piece of lead is now in the collections of the [[National Museums of Scotland]].<ref name=palmer>{{cite book |last=Palmer |first=Mike |title=Eddystone: the Finger of Light |edition=2nd|year=2005 |publisher=Seafarer Books |location=Woodbridge, Suffolk |isbn=0-9547062-0-X }}</ref><ref>[https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/collection-search-results/?item_id=180899 Lighthouse, Eddystone, second / sample / lead] ''www.nms.ac.uk'', accessed 12 December 2019</ref>
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== Smeaton's lighthouse ==
The third lighthouse to be built on the Eddystone marked a major step forward in the design of such structures.

===Design and building===
[[File:Smeaton's Lighthouse00.jpg|thumb|right|upright|{{center|[[Smeaton's Lighthouse]]}}]] 
Following the destruction of Rudyard's tower, Robert Weston sought advice on rebuilding the lighthouse from the [[George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield|Earl of Macclesfield]], then President of the [[Royal Society]].<ref name="Smiles1879" /> He recommended [[mathematical instrument]] maker and aspiring [[civil engineer]], [[John Smeaton]], who was introduced to Weston in February 1756. In May, following a series of visits to the rock, Smeaton proposed that the new lighthouse should be built of stone and modelled on the shape of an [[oak tree]].<ref name="PriceEdwards1882" /> He appointed Josias Jessop to serve as his general assistant, and established a shore base for the construction works at [[Millbay]].<ref>{{Cite book
| last = Langley
| first = Martin
| title = Millbay Docks (Port of Plymouth series)
| publisher = Devon Books
| location = Exeter
| year = 1987
| pages = 2
| isbn = 0-86114-806-1
}}</ref>

Work began on the reef in August 1756, with the gradual cutting away of recesses in the rock which were designed to dovetail in due course with the foundations of the tower. During the winter, the workers stayed ashore and were employed in [[Stone-dressing|dressing]] the stone for the lighthouse; work then resumed on the rock the following June, with the laying of the first [[Course (architecture)|courses]] of stone.<ref name="Smiles1879" /> The foundations and outside structure were built of local Cornish granite, while lighter Portland limestone masonry was used on the inside. As part of the construction process, Smeaton pioneered '[[hydraulic lime]]', a concrete that cured under water, and developed a technique of securing the blocks using [[dovetail joint]]s and [[marble]] [[dowel]]s. Work continued over the course of the following two years, and the light was first lit on 16 October 1759.<ref name="thinfo" />

Smeaton's lighthouse was {{convert|59|ft|m}} high and had a diameter at the base of {{convert|26|ft|m}} and at the top of {{convert|17|ft|m}}. It was lit by a chandelier of 24 large tallow candles.<ref name="Brewster1832">{{cite book |last1=Brewster |first1=David |title=The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, vol. XII |date=1832 |publisher=Joseph and Edward Parker |location=Philadelphia |pages=54–57}}</ref>

===Later modifications===
[[File:John Lynn - Smeaton's Eddystone Lighthouse.jpg|thumb|left|Early 19th-century painting of the lighthouse by John Lynn, showing the reflectors in place in the lantern.]]
In 1807 the 100-year lease on the lighthouse expired, whereupon ownership and management devolved to [[Trinity House]]. In 1810 they replaced the chandelier and candles with 24 [[Argand lamp]]s and [[parabolic reflectors]].<ref name="Brewster1832" />

In 1841 major renovations were made,<ref>Woolmer's Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 15 May 1841</ref> under the direction of engineer [[Henry Norris (engineer)|Henry Norris]] of Messrs. [[James Walker (engineer)|Walker]] & [[Alfred Burges|Burges]], including complete repointing, replacement water tanks and filling of a large cavity in the rock close to the foundations. In 1845 the lighthouse was equipped with a new [[Second order Fresnel lens|second-order]] fixed [[catadioptric]] [[Fresnel lens|optic]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-inside-the-lantern-of-the-fourth-eddystone-lighthouse-built-on-the-57290334.html|title=Inside the lantern of the fourth Eddystone lighthouse built on the Stone 13 miles South-east of Polperro, Cornwall, England. Built by the English civil engineer John Smeaton (1724-1792) beginning in 1756 it was in operation for 127 years. Engraving from 'The Sea' by F Whymper (London, c1890 Stock Photo - Alamy|first=Alamy|last=Limited|website=www.alamy.com|accessdate=29 July 2024}}</ref> manufactured by Henry Lepaute of Paris, with a single multi-wick oil lamp, replacing the old lamps and reflectors.<ref name="RC1861">{{cite web | title = Lighthouse management : the report of the Royal Commissioners on Lights, Buoys, and Beacons, 1861, examined and refuted Vol. 2 | year = 1861 | page = 88 | url = https://archive.org/stream/lighthousemanage02blak#page/88/mode/1up }}</ref> This was the first time that a fully [[catadioptric]] large optic (using prisms rather than mirrors above and below the lens) had been constructed,<ref name="Elliot1875">{{cite book |last1=Elliot |first1=George H. |title=European Light-House Systems |date=1875 |publisher=Lockwood & co. |location=London |page=137 |url=http://access.bl.uk/item/pdf/lsidyv38f8413f |access-date=10 March 2019 |archive-date=29 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029210746/http://access.bl.uk/item/pdf/lsidyv38f8413f |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the first such installation in any lighthouse.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Levitt |first1=Theresa |title=A Short Bright Flash: Augustin Fresnel and the Birth of the Modern Lighthouse |date=2013 |publisher=W. W. Norton & co. |location=New York}}</ref> A new lantern was constructed and fitted to the top of the tower in 1848, as the original had proved unsatisfactory for housing the new optic.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Lighthouses and Lightvessels, 1848 |journal=Accounts and Papers of the House of Commons |date=30 July 1850 |volume=53 |issue=636 |page=6}}</ref>

[[File:EB1911 - Lighthouse - Fig. 56.—Old Eddystone Lighthouse.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Smeaton's Eddystone Lighthouse, 1870s.|A photograph of the lighthouse in the 1870s, showing new lantern with 'beehive' lens optic and fog bell.]]
From 1858 the tower's exterior was painted with broad red and white horizontal bands, so as to render it 'more distinctly visible during the day time'.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/22134/page/2176|title=Page 2176 &#124; Issue 22134, 4 May 1858 &#124; London Gazette &#124; The Gazette|website=www.thegazette.co.uk|accessdate=29 July 2024}}</ref> In 1872 a 5 [[Hundredweight|cwt]] (254 kg) fog bell was provided for the lighthouse; it was sounded 'five times in quick succession every half minute' in foggy weather.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/23936/page/78|title=Page 78 &#124; Issue 23936, 10 January 1873 &#124; London Gazette &#124; The Gazette|website=www.thegazette.co.uk|accessdate=29 July 2024}}</ref> That same year an improved lamp was installed, which more than doubled the intensity of the light.<ref name="Majdalany1960">{{cite book |last1=Majdalany |first1=Fred |title=The Eddystone Light |date=1960 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=Boston, Massachusetts |pages=198–199}}</ref>

In 1877 it was resolved to build a replacement lighthouse, following reports that erosion to the rocks under Smeaton's tower was causing it to shake from side to side whenever large waves hit.<ref>{{cite book|title=Minutes of proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers|chapter=Note on the Eddystone Lighthouse|author=Douglass, James Nicholas|location=London|publisher=Institution of Civil Engineers|year=1878|volume=53, part 3|pages=247–248|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cx4AAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA247}}</ref> During construction of the new lighthouse, the Town Council of [[Plymouth]] petitioned for Smeaton's tower to be dismantled and rebuilt on [[Plymouth Hoe]], in lieu of a Trinity House [[daymark]] which stood there. Trinity House consented to the removal and delivery of the lantern and the upper four rooms of the tower, the cost of labour to be borne by Plymouth Council.<ref name="Douglass1883" /> While the new tower was being built the old lighthouse remained operational, up until 3 February 1882 (after which a temporary fixed light was shown from the top of the new tower). When the latter was complete, Smeaton's lighthouse was decommissioned and the crane which had been used to build the new lighthouse was transferred to the task of dismantling the old. [[William Douglass (engineer)|William Tregarthen Douglass]] supervised the operation.

===Present day===
{{Main|Smeaton's Tower}}
[[File:Clouds over the Hoe - geograph.org.uk - 474465.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Smeaton's lighthouse as rebuilt on Plymouth Hoe|Smeaton's Tower on its replica base, on Plymouth Hoe.]]
The upper part of Smeaton's lighthouse was subsequently rebuilt, as planned, on top of a replica granite [[frustum]] on Plymouth Hoe: preserved 'as a monument to Smeaton's genius, and in commemoration of one of the most successful, useful and instructive works ever accomplished in civil engineering'.<ref name="Douglass1883" /> The rebuilding was funded by [[public subscription]]. It remains in place today and, as '[[Smeaton's Tower]]', is open to the public as a tourist attraction.

The original frustum or base of the tower also survives, standing where it was built on the Eddystone rocks, {{convert|120|ft}} from the current lighthouse. Having dismantled the upper part of the structure, Douglass infilled the old entrance way and stairwell within the frustum and fixed an iron mast to the top of the stub tower. He expressed the hope that 'the rock below will for ages endure to support this portion of Smeaton's lighthouse, which, in its thus diminished form, is still rendering important service to the mariner, in giving a distinctive character to the Eddystone by day'.<ref name="Douglass1883" />
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== Douglass's lighthouse ==
[[File:Eddystone Lighthouse, Plymouth, England-LCCN2002708052.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Eddystone lighthouse in the late 19th century.|Late 19th-century colourised photograph of Douglass's lighthouse (with the remaining lower part of the old lighthouse alongside).]]
The current, fourth lighthouse was designed by [[James Nicholas Douglass|James Douglass]] (using [[Robert Stevenson (civil engineer)|Robert Stevenson's]] developments of Smeaton's techniques).{{citation needed|date=March 2021}} This lighthouse is still in use.

===Design and building===
[[File:Eddystone-Douglass.gif|thumb|left|150px|Original drawing of 4th Eddystone Lighthouse.]]
By July 1878 the new site, on the South Rock was being prepared during the 3½ hours between [[ebb tide|ebb]] and [[flood tide]]; the [[foundation stone]] was laid on 19 August the following year by [[Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|The Duke of Edinburgh]], Master of Trinity House.<ref name="EB1902" /> The supply ship ''Hercules'' was based at [[Oreston]], now a suburb of [[Plymouth]]; stone was prepared at the Oreston yard and supplied from the works of Messrs Shearer, Smith and Co of [[Wadebridge]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Commencement and Progress of the Eddystone|work=[[The Cornishman (newspaper)|The Cornishman]]|issue=40|date=17 April 1879|page=6}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=The New Eddystone Lighthouse|work=The Cornishman|issue=49|date=19 June 1879|page=3}}</ref> The tower, which is {{convert|49|m|ft}} high, contains a total of 62,133 cubic feet of granite, weighing 4,668 tons.<ref name="EB1902" /> The last stone was laid on 1 June 1881 and the light was first lit on 18 May 1882.

The lighthouse was topped by a larger than usual lantern storey, {{convert|16|ft|6|in|abbr=on}} high and {{convert|14|ft|abbr=on}} wide;<ref name="PriceEdwards1882" /> the lantern was painted red.<ref name="King1886">{{cite book |last1=King |first1=John W. |title=The Channel Pilot (Part 1) |date=1886 |publisher=The Hydrographic Office, Admiralty |location=London |page=83}}</ref> It contained a six-sided biform (i.e. two-tier) rotating optic of the [[First order Fresnel lens|first-order]], {{convert|12|ft|6|in|abbr=on}} high and weighing over seven tons.<ref name="Palmer2005" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-the-eddystone-lighthouse-built-on-the-stone-13-miles-south-east-of-57290353.html|title=The Eddystone lighthouse built on the Stone 13 miles South-east of Polperro, Cornwall, England. This is the fifth Eddystone lighthouse, designed by James Douglas, engineer to Trinity House, built between 1878 and 1892. Inside the lantern showing two drums of bull's-eye lenses. Each drum was 6 ft (1.828 metres) high. The keeper is winding up the revolving mechanism. Engraving from 'The Strand Magazine' (London, 1892 Stock Photo - Alamy|first=Alamy|last=Limited|website=www.alamy.com|accessdate=29 July 2024}}</ref> Each of the six sides of the optic was divided into two [[Fresnel lens]] panels, which provided the light's characteristic of two flashes every thirty seconds.<ref name="EB">[[Wikisource:Page:EB1911 – Volume 16.djvu/672|Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911 edition, vol. 16, p. 650.]]</ref> The optic was manufactured by [[Chance Brothers]] of [[Smethwick]] and designed by their chief engineer [[John Hopkinson]] FRS. At the time the Eddystone's extra-tall ({{convert|6|ft|3|in|abbr=on|adj=on}}) lenses were the largest in existence;<ref name="TagHRLenses">{{cite web |last1=Tag |first1=Thomas |title=Hyper-Radial Lenses |url=https://uslhs.org/hyper-radial-lenses |website=United States Lighthouse Society |access-date=25 January 2020 |archive-date=29 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029111141/https://uslhs.org/hyper-radial-lenses |url-status=dead }}</ref> their superior height was achieved through the use of extra-dense [[flint glass]] in the upper and lower portions of each panel.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chance |first1=James Frederick |title=A History of the Firm of Chance Brothers & Co. |date=2018 |publisher=Society of Glass Technology |location=Sheffield, UK |page=178}}</ref>

The light had a range of {{convert|17|nmi}}.<ref name="King1886" /> Illumination was provided by a pair of Douglass-designed six-wick concentric [[Argand lamp|oil burners]] (one for each tier of the optic).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-the-eddystone-lighthouse-built-on-the-stone-13-miles-south-east-of-57290360.html|title=The Eddystone lighthouse built on the Stone 13 miles South-east of Polperro, Cornwall, England. This is the fifth Eddystone lighthouse, designed by James Douglas, engineer to Trinity House, built between 1878 and 1892. Lighting the oil lamp inside the rim of the bull's-eye lenses. Engraving from 'The Strand Magazine' (London, 1892 Stock Photo - Alamy|first=Alamy|last=Limited|website=www.alamy.com|accessdate=29 July 2024}}</ref> This was said to represent 'the first practical application of superposed lenses of the first order with oil as the illuminating material'.<ref name="Douglass1883" />{{efn|There were in fact several optics with two or more tiers of first-order lenses already in use in lighthouses around the coast of Ireland (engineered by Douglass's great rival [[John Richardson Wigham]]), but these were lit by gas.}} On clear nights, only the lamp in the lower tier of lenses was lit (producing a light of 37,000 candlepower); in poor visibility, however (judged by whether the [[Plymouth Breakwater|Plymouth Breakwater light]] was visible), both lamps were used at full power, to provide a 159,600 candlepower light.<ref name="Palmer2005" /> Eighteen cisterns in the lower part of the tower were used to store up to 2,660 tons (nine months' worth) of [[colza oil]] to fuel the lamps.<ref name="Adams1891">{{cite book |last1=Davenport Adams |first1=W. H. |title=The Story of our Lighthouses and Lightships: Descriptive and Historical |date=1891 |publisher=Thomas Nelson & Sons |location=London, Edinburgh & New York |pages=111–116 |url=https://pharology.eu/resources/books/23)%20The%20Story%20of%20Our%20Lighthouses%20and%20Lightships%20-%20descriptive%20and%20historical%20(1891).pdf |access-date=27 February 2019}}</ref>

In addition to the main light a fixed white light was shone from a room on the eighth storey of the tower (using a pair of [[Argand lamp]]s and [[Parabolic reflector|reflectors]]) in the direction of the hazardous [[Hand Deeps]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-the-lower-light-room-in-the-eddystone-lighthouse-built-on-the-stone-57290336.html|title=The lower-light room in the Eddystone lighthouse built on the Stone 13 miles South-east of Polperro, Cornwall, England, showing the twin Argand burners and reflectors (detail inset) which lighted the Hand Deeps rocks about three miles away. This is the fifth Eddystone lighthouse, designed by James Douglas, engineer to Trinity House, built between 1878 and 1892. Engraving from 'The Strand Magazine' (London, 1892 Stock Photo - Alamy|first=Alamy|last=Limited|website=www.alamy.com|accessdate=29 July 2024}}</ref> The lighthouse was also provided with a pair of large bells, each weighing two tons, by [[Gillett, Bland & Co.]], which were suspended from either side of the lantern gallery to serve as a [[fog signal]]; they sounded (to match the [[light characteristic]] of the lighthouse) twice every thirty seconds in foggy weather, and were struck by the same clockwork mechanism that drove the rotation of the lenses. The mechanism required winding every hour (or every forty minutes, when the bells were in use), 'the weight to be lifted being equal to one ton';<ref name="PriceEdwards1882">{{cite book |last1=Price Edwards |first1=E. |title=The Eddystone Lighthouses (new and Old) |date=1882 |publisher=Simpkin, Marshall |location=London |pages=13–28}}</ref> shortly after opening, the lighthouse was equipped with a 0.5 h.p. [[caloric engine]],<ref name="EB1902">{{cite journal |title=Lighthouses |journal=Encyclopaedia Britannica, 10th Edition |date=1902 |volume=30 |page=252 |url=https://digital.nls.uk/encyclopaedia-britannica/archive/193470564 |access-date=19 February 2020 |archive-date=25 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225162927/https://digital.nls.uk/encyclopaedia-britannica/archive/193470564 |url-status=dead }}</ref> designed 'for relieving the keepers of the excessive strain of driving the machine when both illuminating apparatus and fog bell are in use'.<ref name="Douglass1883">{{cite journal |last1=Douglass |first1=William Tregarthen |title=The New Eddystone Lighthouse |journal=Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers |date=27 November 1883 |volume=LXXV |issue=1960 |pages=20–36}}</ref>

===Later modifications===
[[File:EB1911 - Lighthouse - Fig. 57.—Eddystone Lighthouse.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Douglass's Eddystone lighthouse.|Photograph, c.1911, of Douglass's lighthouse (after removal of the bells).]]
In 1894 an explosive fog signal device was installed on the gallery of lighthouse; the fog bells were briefly retained as a standby provision, but then removed.<ref name="Renton2001" /> In 1904 the lamps were replaced with incandescent oil vapour burners.<ref name="EB" /> Following the invention of the mercury bath system (allowing a lighthouse optic to revolve in a trough of mercury rather than on rollers) the Eddystone lens pedestal was duly upgraded and the drive mechanism replaced.<ref name="Palmer2005">{{cite book |last1=Palmer |first1=Mike |title=Eddystone: The Finger of Light |date=2005 |publisher=Seafarer Books |location=Woodbridge, Suffolk |page=123}}</ref> Later, beginning in 1959, the light was electrified: the new light source was a 1,250W [[incandescent lamp]], powered by a diesel generator (three of which were installed in a lower store room).<ref name="Majdalany1960" /> In place of the old lenses a new, smaller (fourth-order) [[AGA AB|AGA]] 'bi-valve' optic was installed, which flashed at the faster rate of twice every ten seconds. The old optic was removed and donated to [[Southampton Maritime Museum]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/heritage/14171096.the-weird-attractions-of-southamptons-royal-pier/|title=The weird attractions of Southampton's Royal Pier|date=29 December 2015|website=Daily Echo|accessdate=29 July 2024}}</ref> (it was exhibited on the [[Royal Pier, Southampton|Royal Pier]] in the 1970s, but later removed to a council yard where it was destroyed by vandals).<ref name="Palmer2005" /> As part of the programme of modernisation, the lighthouse was given a '[[Train horn#Leslie Controls, Inc.|SuperTyfon]]' fog signal, with compressors powered from the diesel generators.<ref name = "Renton2001">{{cite book |last1=Renton |first1=Alan |title=Lost Sounds: The Story of Coast Fog Signals |date=2001 |publisher=Whittles |location=Caithness, Scotland}}</ref>

[[File:Phare-d-Eddystone-Rocks.jpg|thumb|left|The lighthouse in 2005 (with helipad and solar panels) alongside the stub of Smeaton's Tower.]]
The lighthouse was automated in 1982, the first [[Trinity House]] 'Rock' (or offshore) lighthouse to be converted. Two years earlier the tower had been changed by construction of a [[helipad]] above the lantern, to allow maintenance crews access;<ref name=thinfo2>{{cite web | title = Eddystone Lighthouse | url = http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/interactive/gallery/eddystone.html | publisher = Trinity House | access-date =30 December 2015 }}</ref> the helipad has a weight limit of 3600&nbsp;kg (3½ tons). As part of the automation of the lighthouse a new electric fog signal was installed and a metal halide [[discharge lamp]] replaced the incandescent light bulb formerly in use. The light and other systems were monitored remotely, initially by Trinity House staff at the nearby [[Penlee Point, Rame|Penlee Point]] [[fog signal station]].<ref name="NS1983">{{cite journal |last1=Auld |first1=Jack |title=Automation relieves the Eddystone keeper |journal=New Scientist |date=21 July 1983 |volume=99 |issue=1367 |page=213}}</ref> Since 1999 the lighthouse has run on solar power.<ref name="WoodmanWilson">{{cite book |last1=Woodman |first1=Richard |last2=Wilson |first2=Jane |title=The Lighthouses of Trinity House |date=2002 |publisher=Thomas Reed |location=Bradford-on-Avon, Wilts. |page=179}}</ref>

===Present day===
The tower is {{convert|49|m|ft}} high, and [[Light characteristic|its white light flashes twice every 10&nbsp;seconds]]. The light is visible to {{convert|22|nmi|km}}, and is supplemented by a [[foghorn]] of 3 blasts every 62&nbsp;seconds.<ref name="thinfo" /> A subsidiary red [[sector light]] shines from a window in the tower to highlight the [[Hand Deeps]] hazard to the west-northwest. The lighthouse is now monitored and controlled from the Trinity House Operations Control Centre at Harwich in Essex.
{{Clear}}

== References in media ==
[[File:"The Signal-hoist for the Eddystone Lighthouse, B.D.T.F." (figure 325), from- The Flags of the World Plate 24 (cropped).png|thumb|324x324px|right|Signal-hoist for the Eddystone Light, B.D.T.F. from book, ''[[c:Category:The Flags of the World (book)|The Flags of the World]]'', 1896|alt=]]
{{More citations needed section|date=November 2015}}
*The lighthouse inspired a [[sea shanty]], frequently recorded, that begins "My father was the keeper of the Eddystone light / He courted a [[mermaid]] one fine night / From this union there came three / A [[porpoise]] and a [[Sparidae|porgy]] and the other was me!"<ref name=shanty>{{cite web |url=http://ingeb.org/songs/mefather.html |title=The Eddystone Light |access-date=11 April 2008 }}</ref> There are several verses.
*The lighthouse has been used as a metaphor for stability.<ref name=globe>[[Thomas D'Arcy McGee]] commented that Canada's foundations were as "strong as the foundations of Eddystone" in ''The Globe'', 31 October 1864, 4.</ref>
*In the ''[[Goon Show]]'' episode ''Ten Snowballs that shook the World'' (1958), [[Neddie Seagoon]] is sent to Eddystone Lighthouse to warn the inhabitants that [[Pound sterling|Sterling]] has dropped from F-sharp to E-flat.
*The lighthouse is celebrated in the opening and closing movements of [[Ron Goodwin]]'s ''Drake 400 Suite.'' The movement's main theme was directly inspired by the lighthouse's unique [[light characteristic]].<ref name=drake>CD insert, "British Light Music: Ron Goodwin. 633 Squadron, Drake 400 Suite, and others. New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Ron Goodwin, conductor." Marco Polo CD 8.223518</ref>
*A novel based on the building of Smeaton's lighthouse, containing many details of the construction, was published in 2005.<ref name=severn>{{cite book |last=Severn |first=Christopher |title=Smeaton's Tower |year=2005 |publisher=Seafarer Books |location=Woodbridge, Suffolk |isbn=0-9542750-9-8 }}</ref>
*The lighthouse is referenced twice in [[Herman Melville]]'s epic novel ''[[Moby-Dick]]''; at the beginning of Chapter 14, "Nantucket": "How it stands there, away off shore, more lonely than the Eddystone lighthouse.", and in Chapter 133, "The Chase – First Day": "So, in a gale, the but half baffled Channel billows only recoil from the base of the Eddystone, triumphantly to overleap its summit with their scud."
*The lighthouse is referred to in "Daddy was a Ballplayer" by the Canadian band Stringband, and follows a similar line to the sea shanty.
*"The Most Famous of All Lighthouses," the third chapter of ''The Story of Lighthouses'' (Norton 1965) by [[Mary Ellen Chase]], is devoted to the Eddystone Lighthouse.
*Eddystone Lighthouse was used for many of the exterior shots in ''[[The Phantom Light]]'', a 1935 film directed by [[Michael Powell]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://governmentcheese.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11:beacons-in-the-dark-lighthouse-iconography-in-wartime-british-cinema&catid=11&Itemid=111|title=Beacons in the Dark: Lighthouse Iconography in Wartime British Cinema (1941-1942)|website=governmentcheese.ca|accessdate=29 July 2024}}</ref>
*The English pop group [[Edison Lighthouse]] took its name from it. Later, 'Lighthouse' was discarded, and they renamed themselves 'Edison'.
*An 1850 replica of Smeaton's lighthouse, [[Hoad Monument]], stands above the town of [[Ulverston]], [[Cumbria]] as a memorial to naval administrator [[Sir John Barrow]].

== See also ==
{{stack|{{Portal|Devon|Engineering}}}}
* [[List of lighthouses in England]]
* [[Eddystone (Google)|Eddystone]], the Google [[Bluetooth low energy beacons|Bluetooth Low Energy beacon]]
* [[Hook Lighthouse]], second oldest lighthouse in the world and oldest in the [[British Isles]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*{{cite book |last1=Hart-Davis |first1=Adam |author-link1=Adam Hart-Davis |last2=Troscianko |first2=Emily |title=Henry Winstanley and the Eddystone Lighthouse |year=2002 |publisher=Sutton Publishing |location=Stroud |isbn=0-7509-1835-7 }}
* John Smeaton (1793). ''A Narrative of the Building and Description of the Eddystone Lighthouse with Stone''. London{{ISBN?}}
* Palmer, Mike; Eddystone, ''The Finger of Light''. Palmridge Publishing, 1998 – Revised edition, 2005 by Seafarer Books & Globe Pequot Press / Sheridan House  {{ISBN|0-9547062-0-X}}
** Eddystone (2016). ''The Finger of Light'', revised Kindle ebook edition{{ISBN?}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouses-and-lightvessels?type=lighthouse Trinity House]
* [http://www.cichw1.net/pmlight.html Charles Harrison-Wallace webpage]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928000341/http://cornovia.org.uk/htexts/edye01.html Captain L Edye – The Eddystone Lighthouse, 1887]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120207110840/http://www.cilco.co.uk/stock-photos/plymouth/b215-smeatons-tower-3.htm A local's view of Smeaton's Tower, on the Hoe, 2005]
* {{Structurae|id=20000130|title=Eddystone Lighthouse}}

{{Lighthouses of Trinity House}}
{{Lighthouses in England}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1698 establishments in England]]
[[Category:1703 disasters]]
[[Category:1755 disasters]]
[[Category:Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks]]
[[Category:Industrial archaeological sites in Devon]]
[[Category:Lighthouses completed in 1882]]
[[Category:Lighthouses in Devon]]
[[Category:Lighthouses of the English Channel]]
[[Category:Plymouth, Devon]]