Maryport Lighthouse

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Maryport Lighthouses
Maryport Lighthouse
Location Maryport, United Kingdom OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Coordinates 54°43′04″N3°30′38″W / 54.71777°N 3.51069°W / 54.71777; -3.51069
Maryport Old Lighthouse OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Old lighthouse, Maryport - geograph.org.uk - 240182.jpg
Constructed1846  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Foundation1-storey stone octagonal prism basement
Constructioncast iron (tower)  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Height11 m (36 ft)  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Shapetwo-stage octagonal tower with lantern
Markingsunpainted (foundation), white (tower), black (lantern)  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Heritage Grade II listed building   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Deactivated1996  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Maryport Lighthouse is a small lighthouse located in Maryport, Cumbria, England, formerly run by England's general lighthouse authority, Trinity House. It is a Grade II listed building. [1]

Contents

18th century

Maryport is said to have possessed a small lighthouse in 1796; five years later Robert Stevenson described it in a report as an oil lamp with two reflectors. [2]

19th century

In 1833 an Act of Parliament granted permission for a dock to be built at Maryport together with a new pier and lighthouse. Construction was overseen by a new board of trustees and the pier, complete with its lighthouse, was in place by 1846. [3] Both remain in situ and the light is said to be the UK's oldest cast iron lighthouse (though it no longer serves as a navigation light). [4] It is 36 feet (11 m) high and consists of an octagonal metal plinth, column and lantern on top of a rusticated stone base. [1] It was originally gas-lit. [5]

Subsequently, the harbour continued to expand. In 1852, following a storm, the south pier (on which the lighthouse stands) was extended, [6] and a new light was provided at the end of the pier extension (described as a lantern on a post, lit by three gas jets) with a range of 6 nautical miles (11 km; 6.9 mi). The lighthouse thereafter served as a tidal light, being lit at night only for as long as there was 8 ft (2.4 m) of water within the harbour; (during the day it exhibited a red spherical day mark to signify the same). [5] In 1858 the Harbour Trustees commissioned James Chance to manufacture a small (fourth-order) fixed optic for the lighthouse, [7] which gave the tidal light a range of 12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi). [8] The previous year, following completion of the Elizabeth Dock, additional (minor) lights had been installed on the north tongue and south jetty, within the harbour, coloured green and red respectively. [5]

20th century

By 1946 the light was powered by acetylene. The painter L. S. Lowry used Maryport and the lighthouse in several of his paintings. [9] Trinity House took charge of it in 1961.

In 1996 Trinity House provided a new aluminium tower ( 54°43′04″N3°30′39″W / 54.7178°N 3.5107°W / 54.7178; -3.5107 (New Maryport Lighthouse, Cumbria) ) for the end of the pier extension, lit by mains electricity. [2] At 4.7 metres tall and with a light intensity of only 120 candelas, the new tower was one of Trinity House's smaller beacons; it displays a flashing white light visible 6 nmi (6.9 mi) out to sea. [10] [11]

21st century

In 2010 Trinity House transferred responsibility for the new light to the Maryport Harbour Authority. [12] The old lighthouse was restored and repainted in 2017 as part of a government-funded initiative for the refurbishment of seaside towns. [13] Maryport Lighthouse was recognised during the 370th Council Meeting of the Round Table of Britain and Ireland.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "The Lighthouse, The Harbour, Maryport, Cumbria". Historic England. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  2. 1 2 Woodman, Richard; Wilson, Jane (2002). The Lighthouses of Trinity House. Bradford-on-Avon, Wilts.: Thomas Reed. p. 244.
  3. ↑ Rennison, R. W. (1981). Civil Engineering Heritage: Northern England (2nd ed.). London: Thomas Telford Publishing. p. 114. ISBN   07277-2518-1.
  4. ↑ A page containing interesting facts about lighthouses worldwide Archived 13 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  5. 1 2 3 "Lighthouse management : the report of the Royal Commissioners on Lights, Buoys, and Beacons, 1861, examined and refuted Vol. 2". 1861. p. 346.
  6. ↑ "Maryport Conservation Area Character Appraisal" (PDF). Allerdale Borough Council. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  7. ↑ Chance, James Frederick (1902). The Lighthouse Work of Sir James Chance, Baronet (PDF). London: Smith, Elder & co. p. 166. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  8. ↑ Davenport Adams, W. H. (1870). Lighthouses and Lightships: A Descriptive and Historical Account of Their Mode of Construction and Organization. London: T. Nelson & Sons. p.  303.
  9. ↑ A history of Maryport
  10. ↑ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Northwest England". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  11. ↑ Mariport light Lighthouse Explorer. Retrieved 2 May 2016
  12. ↑ Trinity House annual report 2010 Archived 4 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ↑ "Maryport Lighthouse restoration unveiled". ITV News. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
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