The Lighthouse
| Longships lighthouse from the seaward side | |
|
|
|
| Location | Land's End, Cornwall, England |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 50°4′1″N 5°44′49″W / 50.06694°N 5.74694°W / 50.06694; -5.74694 |
| Year first constructed | 1795 (1st); 1875 (2nd) |
| Automated | 1988 |
| Height | 35 m (115 ft) |
| Focal height | 35 m (115 ft) |
| Current lens | First Order Dioptric |
| Intensity | 14,400 Candela |
| Range | 15 nmi (28 km) |
| Characteristic | White and Red Isophase every 10 seconds (light 5 seconds, eclipse 5 seconds) |
| Fog signal | One second blast every 10 seconds |
| ARLHS number | ENG 069 |
The Longships Lighthouse stands on Carn Bras, the highest islet which rises 12 metres (39 ft) above high water level. The original tower was built in 1795 to the design of Trinity House architect Samuel Wyatt. The lantern was 24 metres (79 ft) above sea level but very high seas obscured its light.
In 1869 Trinity House began constructing a replacement. The building of the present granite tower used much of the equipment that had previously been used in the construction of the Wolf Rock Lighthouse. The tower was first lit in December 1873 having cost £43,870 to build. Even after these improvements, the S.S. Bluejacket was wrecked on rocks near the lighthouse on a clear night in 1898, nearly demolishing the lighthouse in the process.
Since 1988, the lighthouse has been unmanned. Its light has a range of 11 nautical miles (20 km), and gives one long five-second flash every ten seconds. The flashes are white when seen from seaward, but red sectors show if a vessel strays too close to either Cape Cornwall to the north or Gwennap Head to the south-southeast. A fog signal sounds every ten seconds.
Read more about this topic: Longships
Famous quotes containing the word lighthouse:
“This lighthouse was the cynosure of all eyes.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“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)