Lighthouses
| The 1961 lighthouse, with the 1901 lighthouse and Dungeness A Nuclear power station beyond | |
|
|
|
| Location | Dungeness, Kent, England |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 50°54′48″N 0°58′34″E / 50.91333°N 0.97611°E / 50.91333; 0.97611 |
| Year first constructed | 1st 1615; 2nd 1635; 3rd 1792; 4th 1904; 5th 1961 |
| Automated | 1991 |
| Height | 43 m (141 ft) |
| Focal height | 40 m (130 ft) |
| Current lens | Pharos PRB20 |
| Intensity | 134,000 Candela |
| Range | 21 nmi (39 km) |
| Characteristic | Flashing Every 10 Seconds |
| Fog signal | Triple frequency sounding 3 times every minute |
| ARLHS number | ENG 085 |
There have been five lighthouses at Dungeness. At first only a beacon was used to warn sailors, but this was replaced by a proper lighthouse in 1615. As the sea retreated, this had to be replaced in 1635 by a new lighthouse nearer to the water's edge known as Lamplough's Tower.
As more shingle was thrown up, a new and more up-to-date lighthouse was built near the sea in 1792 by Samuel Wyatt. This lighthouse was about 35 m (115 ft) high and of the same design as the third Eddystone Lighthouse. From the mid-19th century, it was painted black with a white band to make it more visible in daylight; similar colours have featured on the subsequent lighthouses here. This lighthouse was demolished in 1904, but the lighthouse keepers' accommodation, built in a circle around the base of the tower, still exists.
In 1901 building of the fourth lighthouse, the High Light Tower, started. It was first lit on 31 March 1904 and still stands today. It is no longer in use as a lighthouse but is open as a visitor attraction. It is a circular brick structure, 41 m (135 ft) high and 11 m (36 ft) in diameter at ground level. It has 169 steps, and gives visitors a good view of the shingle beach.
As the sea receded further, and after building the nuclear power station which obscured the light of the 1904 lighthouse, a fifth lighthouse had to be built. This started operation on 20 November 1961 and is constructed of precast concrete rings. Its pattern of black and white bands is impregnated into the concrete. It remains in use today, monitored and controlled from the Trinity House Operations and Planning Centre at Harwich, Essex.
Read more about this topic: Dungeness (headland)
Famous quotes containing the word lighthouses:
“The whole fauna of human fantasies, their marine vegetation, drifts and luxuriates in the dimly lit zones of human activity, as though plaiting thick tresses of darkness. Here, too, appear the lighthouses of the mind, with their outward resemblance to less pure symbols. The gateway to mystery swings open at the touch of human weakness and we have entered the realms of darkness. One false step, one slurred syllable together reveal a man’s thoughts.”
—Louis Aragon (1897–1982)
“the ocean, under the pulsation of lighthouses and noise of bell
buoys,
advances as usual, looking as if it were not that ocean in which
dropped things are bound to sink—
in which if they turn and twist, it is neither with volition nor
consciousness.”
—Marianne Moore (1887–1972)