| Aerial view of Needles Lighthouse | |
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| Location | Alum Bay, Isle of Wight, England |
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| Coordinates | 50°39′44″N 1°35′30″W / 50.66222°N 1.59167°W / 50.66222; -1.59167 |
| Year first constructed | 1786 (1st); 1859 (2nd) |
| Automated | 1994 |
| Height | 31 m (102 ft) |
| Focal height | 24 m (79 ft) |
| Current lens | 2nd Order 700Mm Fixed Lens |
| Intensity | Red (Intensified) 3,950 Candela, White 12,300 Candela, Red 1,800 Candela, Green 2,860 Candela |
| Range | Red (intensified) and White - 17 nmi (31 km); Red and Green - 14 nmi (26 km) |
| Characteristic | White, Red and Green Group Occurring twice every 20 seconds (light 14 seconds, eclipse 2 seconds, light 2 seconds, eclipse 2 seconds) |
| Fog signal | Sounding Twice Every 30 Seconds |
| ARLHS number | ENG 083 |
The Needles Lighthouse was built by Trinity House in 1859 on the outermost of the chalk rocks near sea level. Designed by James Walker, it cost £20,000. Constructed from granite, it stands 33.25 metres (109.1 ft) high and is a circular tower with straight sides.
It replaced a light tower on top of a cliff overhanging Scratchell's Bay, which was first lit on 29 September 1786. Its height of 144m above sea level meant it was often obscured by fog and sea mists.
In 1987 a helipad was added to the top of the lighthouse, and it became fully automated when the last keepers left on 8 December 1994. One of the last three remaining manned rock lighthouses in England and Wales, before automation it was staffed by a three man crew operating a 24 hour watch, serving one month on / one month off, living in rudimentary conditions in three levels below the light.
Due to the condition of the chalk strata on which the lighthouse was built, in April 2010 a £500,000 underpinning project was announced, designed to stop the lighthouse falling into the sea. Over a 12 week period from early June, civil marine contractors Nuttall John Martin were due to dig a trench around the base of the lighthouse, install a ring of stabilising posts, and infill it with concrete.
Read more about this topic: The Needles
Famous quotes containing the words needles and/or lighthouse:
“With pictures full, of wax and of wool,
Their livers I stick with needles quick;
There lacks but the blood to make up the flood.”
—Ben Jonson (1572–1637)
“It is the cry of a thousand sentinels, the echo from a thousand labyrinths; it is the lighthouse which cannot be hidden.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)