Location | Talacre Wales United Kingdom |
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OS grid | SJ 121 853 |
Coordinates | 53°21′25″N3°19′20″W / 53.357044°N 3.322174°W |
Tower | |
Constructed | 1776 |
Construction | brick tower |
Height | 18 metres (59 ft) |
Shape | tapered cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern |
Markings | white tower, black lantern, red lantern dome |
Heritage | Grade II listed building, National Monuments of Wales |
Light | |
Deactivated | 1844 |
The Point of Ayr Lighthouse, also known as the Talacre Lighthouse, is a Grade II listed building situated on the north coast of Wales, on the Point of Ayr, near the village of Talacre. [1] [2]
Chester Lighthouse Act 1776 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
Long title | An Act for erecting a Lighthouse or Lighthouses, and Land Marks, in or near the Port of Chester; and for placing Buoys upon the Banks and Shoals leading into and in the said Port; and for regulating of Pilots and Persons towing or tracking of Vessels to and from the City of Chester; and for fixing the Rates payable for the same respectively. |
Citation | 16 Geo. 3. c. 61 |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 21 May 1776 |
It was authorised by the Chester Lighthouse Act 1776 (16 Geo. 3. c. 61) and built in 1776 [3] by a trust of the Mayor, Recorder and Aldermen of Chester to warn ships entering between the Dee and the Mersey Estuary. It was replaced by a pile light and was decommissioned in 1844. [4] It is now a privately owned property.
The lighthouse was listed on the property market in November 2011 [5] by then owner James McAllister, along with two acres of land, for £100,000. It was eventually sold in April 2012 for £90,000 [6] to a private couple who continue to own the property.
Two alleged incidents have been reported by Wales Online. [5]
In August 2009, the BBC [7] reported that planning permission had been sought to erect a "human sculpture" inspired by the reported ghostly sightings on the lighthouse balcony. This application was made by then owner James McAllister who intended it to serve as a "serious art installation".
Local artist Angela Smith [8] was contracted to design the 7 foot stainless steel ‘lighthouse keeper’ with the initial planning permission being approved for a three-year period. Permission was not sought to retain the structure after this point and the sculpture was relocated.
In March 2007, the lighthouse was damaged by storms [9] which resulted in the metal steps leading to the building becoming dislocated and also resulted structural damage with a hole being created in the base according to the BBC.
The cost of repairs was covered by the owners of a local caravan park who were involved in the ownership of the lighthouse at the time.
The lighthouse featured in the background in a 2011 TV advertisement [10] by paint manufacturer Dulux. The advertisement was designed to mark the 50th anniversary of the first appearance of their Old English Sheepdog mascot.
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shropshire to the south; to the west it is bordered by the Welsh counties of Flintshire and Wrexham, and has a short coastline on the Dee Estuary. Warrington is the largest settlement, and the city of Chester is the county town.
Merseyside is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Welsh county of Flintshire across the Dee Estuary to the southwest, and the Irish Sea to the west. The largest settlement is the city of Liverpool.
Flintshire is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the English ceremonial counties of Merseyside and Cheshire, across the Dee Estuary to the north and by land to the east respectively, Wrexham County Borough to the south, and Denbighshire to the west. Connah's Quay is the largest town, while Flintshire County Council is based in Mold.
Clwyd is a preserved county of Wales, situated in the north-east corner of the country; it is named after the River Clwyd, which runs through the area. To the north lies the Irish Sea, with the English ceremonial counties of Cheshire to the east and Shropshire to the south-east. Powys and Gwynedd lie to the south and west respectively. Clwyd also shares a maritime boundary with Merseyside along the River Dee. Between 1974 and 1996, a slightly different area had a county council, with local government functions shared with six district councils. In 1996, Clwyd was abolished, and the new principal areas of Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham County Borough were created; under this reorganisation, "Clwyd" became a preserved county, with the name being retained for certain ceremonial functions.
The River Dee is a river flowing through North Wales, and through Cheshire, England, in Great Britain. The length of the main section from Bala to Chester is 113 km and it is largely located in Wales. The stretch between Aldford and Chester is within England, and two other sections form the border between the two countries.
Hoylake is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the north west of the Wirral Peninsula, near West Kirby and where the River Dee meets the Irish Sea. Historically part of Cheshire, the Domesday Book of 1086 recorded it within the Hundred of Wilaveston.
Point of Ayr is the northernmost point of mainland Wales. It is situated immediately to the north of Talacre in Flintshire, at the mouth of the Dee estuary. It is to the southwest of the Liverpool Bay area of the Irish Sea. It is the site of a RSPB nature reserve RSPB Dee Estuary Point of Ayr, and is part of Gronant and Talacre Dunes Site of Special Scientific Interest.
New Brighton is a seaside resort and suburb of Wallasey, at the northeastern tip of the Wirral peninsula. It lies in the traditional county of Cheshire and is currently administered as part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England, It has sandy beaches which line the Irish Sea and mouth of the Mersey, and the UK's longest promenade.
The Wirral Peninsula, known locally as the Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about 15 miles (24 km) long and 7 miles (11 km) wide, and is bounded by the Dee Estuary to the west, the Mersey Estuary to the east, and Liverpool Bay to the north.
Talacre is a village in Flintshire on the north coast of Wales in the community of Llanasa and the electoral ward of Ffynnongroyw, and is the northernmost mainland settlement in Wales. The village itself has a population of 347 as of the 2011 census.
Smalls Lighthouse is a lighthouse that stands on the largest of a group of wave-washed basalt and dolerite rocks known as The Smalls approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Marloes Peninsula in Pembrokeshire, Wales, and 8 miles (13 km) west of Grassholm. It was erected in 1861 by engineer James Douglass to replace a previous lighthouse which had been erected in 1776 on the same rock. It is the most remote lighthouse operated by Trinity House.
Deeside is the name given to a predominantly industrial conurbation of towns and villages in Flintshire and Cheshire on the Wales–England border lying near the canalised stretch of the River Dee that flows from neighbouring Chester into the Dee Estuary. These include Connah's Quay, Shotton, Queensferry, Aston, Garden City, Sealand, Broughton, Bretton, Hawarden, Ewloe, Mancot, Pentre, Saltney and Sandycroft. The population is around 50,000, with a plurality (17,500) living in Connah's Quay.
Chester Chronicle is a local weekly newspaper distributed in Chester, Cheshire and North Wales. The first edition was published by founder John Poole on 2 May 1775. Editions are published every Thursday. In 2018, it had a circulation of 7,023. In June 2019, its owners Reach plc closed the paper's Chester offices ending a 244-year association with the city, the decision was "to reduce costs and save jobs". The newspaper editorial is now produced remotely and from newsdesks in Liverpool and Manchester.
Penyffordd or Pen-y-ffordd is a village, community and electoral ward in Flintshire, Wales, situated to the south east of Buckley and to the west of Chester. The name is derived from the Welsh Pen Y Ffordd – roughly translated as "the highest or furthest point of the road". The resident population of Penyffordd, as measured in the 2001 Census, was 3,715, increasing to 3,874 at the 2011 census.
Talacre railway station served the village of Talacre, near Prestatyn on the North Wales Coast Line.
Waking the Dragon is a proposed bronze sculpture which is intended to be built near Wrexham, North Wales.
Ffynnongroyw is a village in Flintshire, north Wales. It is situated on the A548 road, near the Dee Estuary coast, near Prestatyn.
Gwespyr is a village in Flintshire on the north coast of Wales in the community of Llanasa. Gwespyr had a population of 289 people in the United Kingdom 2001 census. It overlooks Point of Ayr on the west side of the River Dee estuary and its sandy beaches with dunes. The hills of the Clwydian Range behind the village form the eastern boundary of the Vale of Clwyd. Gwespyr also looks respectively Welsh but is an alien name. It represents Old English for 'West-bury' which came to be interpreted as the 'west fort' meaning the westernmost fort in Mercia. Originally, it is thought to have been a strategic Mercian lookout which was reduced in importance with the development of a fortified Rhuddlan.
The Needles Lighthouse is an active 19th century lighthouse on the outermost of the chalk rocks at The Needles on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom, near sea level. Designed by James Walker, for Trinity House at a cost of £20,000, it was completed in 1859 from granite blocks. It stands 33.25 metres (109.1 ft) high and is a circular tower with straight sides. It replaced an earlier light tower on top of a cliff overhanging Scratchell's Bay, which was first lit on 29 September 1786.
Joseph Turner was an architect of Welsh origin who worked in the 18th century. Most of his major works were in North Wales, and in Chester, Cheshire. Almost all of them were in Georgian style, with at least one work in Gothic style, in Mold, Flintshire, Wales. Turner also designed memorials in Chester Cathedral, and in the churches of St Peter, Prestbury, St Margaret, Wrenbury, St Peter, Ruthin, and St Collen, Llangollen. Turner was a member of Chester Assembly.