Location | North Channel County Antrim Northern Ireland |
---|---|
Coordinates | 54°55′44.88″N5°43′40.14″W / 54.9291333°N 5.7278167°W |
Tower | |
Constructed | 1829 |
Construction | stone tower |
Automated | 1977 |
Height | 76 feet (23 m) |
Shape | cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern attached to a 2-storey keeper's house |
Markings | white tower with a black band, white lantern |
Operator | Commissioners of Irish Lights [1] [2] |
Racon | M |
Light | |
Focal height | 95 feet (29 m) |
Range | 23 nautical miles (43 km; 26 mi) |
Characteristic | Fl (3) W 15s. 24h |
Northern Ireland no. | CIL-1370 |
The Maidens lighthouses, on the Maidens in North Channel off County Antrim in Northern Ireland, date from 1829 and were built at the request of merchants and a Royal Navy officer. Lighthouses were built on both rocks; the West Maiden was abandoned in 1903 and the East Maiden was automated in 1977.
After receiving requests from Larne merchants and Admiral Benjamin Hallowell Carew for a lighthouse to be placed on The Maidens, George Halpin, the Ballast Board's Inspector of Works and Inspector of Lighthouses, inspected the rocks in 1819. He recommended the placement of two lighthouses. The plans were approved in 1824 and Halpin designed the lighthouses and supervised their construction. Building was completed and the lights switched on by 5 January 1829. [3] The towers were 800 yards apart: the West Tower, on the northern rock, rose 84 feet above sea level and could be seen 13 miles away; the East Tower, on the southern rock, reached 94 feet and was visible from a distance of 14 miles. [3] The keepers of the lighthouses and their families originally lived on site for the whole year. [3] In one case, this led to romance when, in the 1830s, the Assistant Keeper of one lighthouse fell in love with daughter of the keeper of the other, often visiting her by boat; after the families fell out and her father forbade them to meet, they eloped to Carrickfergus on the mainland. [4]
An extra light, to illuminate the Highland Rocks, was built into a window in the East Tower in 1889. [3] However, the Engineer to the Commissioners of Irish Lights, William Douglass, in December 1898 recommended the establishment of a lightvessel north of the Highland Rocks. It would house a more powerful light and a fog siren, and coupled with increasing the light and addition of a siren to the East Tower would allow the abandonment of the West Tower. This plan, and a further suggestion in 1899, of a light being built on the Highland Rocks came to nothing. [3] However, the light on the East Tower was improved and put into operation on 12 March 1903; the West Tower was abandoned. The solitary working lighthouse was now known as Maidens. [3] The buildings of the old West Tower are still standing; the lighthouse remains intact and the internal stairs and external walkway to the living quarters can still be used. However, the living quarters have decayed into a ruined state. [5] The structures can be seen from the shore. [1]
In 1906, the Maiden was combined with the operation of Ferris Point lighthouse, under the supervision of the Ferris Point keeper. New accommodation for four Assistant Keepers was built at Ferris Point; three assistants now worked on the Maidens at any one time, serving 30 days at the lighthouse followed by 10 days with their family at Ferris Point, when he also assisted the Principal Keeper. The Principal Keeper was also responsible for inspecting the Maidens. [3] However, in 1951, the Maidens was separated from Ferris Point, and once more had its own Principal Keeper. [3] Early in the 1970s, the Commissioners of Irish Lights began a modernisation programme, with the intention of automating the Maidens and passing control to Ferris Point. The accommodation at Ferris Point was demolished and additional Keepers were added to improve the ratio of days spent working at the lighthouse. [3]
By October 1977, an electric light was added to the lighthouse and by 31 October of that year, the Keepers were withdrawn as the Maidens became an automatic operation and control passed to Ferris Point. Currently, the station is monitored by an Attendant as well as from the headquarters of the Commissioners of Irish Lights at Dún Laoghaire. [3] A racon showing Morse code "M" (--) was added in 1996. [6] The light's nominal range was reduced from 24 to 23 nautical miles in September 2010 and the light characteristic was set at three white flashes every 15 seconds (Fl (3) W 15s). [3] [7] The lighthouse buildings remain in good repair. [5]
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Longships Lighthouse is an active 19th-century lighthouse about 1.25 mi (2.0 km) off the coast of Land's End in Cornwall, England. It is the second lighthouse to be built on Carn Bras, the highest of the Longships islets which rises 39 feet (12 m) above high water level. In 1988 the lighthouse was automated, and the keepers withdrawn. It is now remotely monitored from the Trinity House Operations & Planning Centre in Harwich, Essex.
The Chaine Memorial Tower in Larne, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, is a memorial to James Chaine, a former Member of Parliament for Antrim, who died in 1885. It is a cylindrical stone tower lighthouse with a conical roof, situated on the west side of entrance to Larne Lough.
The Baily Lighthouse is a lighthouse on the southeastern part of Howth Head in County Dublin, Ireland. It is maintained by the Commissioners of Irish Lights.
Start Point lighthouse was built in 1836 to protect shipping off Start Point, Devon, England. Open to the public in summer months, it is owned and operated by Trinity House. It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II listed building.
The Maidens or Hulin Rocks are two islets and several skerries in the North Channel off County Antrim in Northern Ireland. The Eastern Maiden or Southern Rock lies about 9 km from the coast at Ballygalley, or 13 miles from Larne. The West Maiden or Northern Rock is about half a mile further out. Lighthouses were built on both rocks; the West Maiden was abandoned in 1903 and the East Maiden was automated in 1977.
Smoky Cape Lighthouse is a heritage-listed active lighthouse located on Smoky Cape, a headland in Arakoon east of the town of South West Rocks, Kempsey Shire, New South Wales, Australia, and within the Hat Head National Park. It directs boats towards the entrance to the Macleay River, which is located just to the north of the lighthouse.
Rotten Island lighthouse is a harbour light to light the passage from St. John's Point to inner channel and past the rocks to the anchorage within Killybegs Harbour, Donegal Bay, Ireland. It is operated by the Commissioners of Irish Lights.
Blacksod Lighthouse is a lighthouse at the southern end of the Mullet Peninsula, Erris, County Mayo, at the entrance to Blacksod Bay. It is made of local granite blocks, which are believed to have come from Termon Hill, a nearby isolated outcrop of high quality granite.
Kiama Light, also known as Kiama Harbour Light, is an active lighthouse in Kiama, New South Wales, Australia. The lighthouse is located close to the Kiama Blowhole on Blowhole Point, south of Kiama Harbour.
The Point Stephens Light is a heritage-listed active lighthouse located on Point Stephens, a point on an unnamed headland at the east of Fingal Bay, 4.25 km (2.64 mi) south of the entrance of Port Stephens, New South Wales, Australia. The light serves to assist vessels entering Port Stephens. It is considered an endangered lighthouse due to remote location and old age.
Sugarloaf Point Light, also known as Seal Rocks Lighthouse, is an active lighthouse located on Sugarloaf Point, a point about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) southeast of Seal Rocks, Mid-Coast Council, New South Wales, Australia. It guards Seal Rocks, a treacherous rock formation to the south. It is the first lighthouse designed by James Barnet, and built from 1874 to 1875 by John McLeod. It is also one of only two towers in Australia with an external stairway. It is also known as Sugarloaf Point Lightstation Group, Seal Rocks Lightstation Complex and Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse. The property is owned by National Parks and Wildlife Service. It was added to the Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004; on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 22 February 2019; and on the Register of the National Estate on 10 April 1989.
Roche's Point Lighthouse is situated at the entrance to Cork Harbour, Ireland. A lighthouse was first established on 4 June 1817 to guide ships into Cork Harbour. The original tower was deemed too small and in 1835 was replaced by the larger present tower which is 49 feet high with a diameter of 12 feet. Roche's Point Lighthouse, and a number of other structures, are located on a headland of the same name.
Whitby Lighthouse is a lighthouse operated by Trinity House. It is on Ling Hill, on the coast to the southeast of Whitby, beyond Saltwick Bay. To distinguish it from the two lighthouses in Whitby itself it is sometimes known as Whitby High lighthouse
The Haulbowline Lighthouse is an active 19th century lighthouse. Described as an "elegant, tapering stone tower" it is located at the entrance to Carlingford Lough, near Cranfield Point in County Down, Northern Ireland. The lighthouse was built on the eastern part of the Haulbowline rocks, one of a number of navigation hazards at the seaward end of Carlingford Lough, which include a notable rocky shoal or bar across the mouth of the lough. The multi-purpose light was designed to help mark the rocks and, when first built, the depth of water over the bar, as well as acting as a landfall light for ships entering from the Irish Sea. Associated with the lighthouse are the leading lights at Green Island and Vidal Bank which mark the safe channel along Carlingford Lough, with Haulbowline displaying a reserve light in case of problems with these leading lights.
The Noss Head Lighthouse is an active 19th-century lighthouse near Wick in Caithness in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is located at the end of Noss Head, a peninsula on the north-west coast of Caithness that overlooks Sinclairs Bay, three miles north-east of Wick. It is notable as being the first lighthouse that was built with a diagonally-paned lantern room.
The Inisheer, Inis Oírr or Fardurris Point Lighthouse, is an active 19th century lighthouse located on the island of Inisheer, the smallest of the Aran Islands, in County Galway, Ireland. It marks the south-eastern entrance to Galway bay and the port of Galway known as the South Sound, with a red sector of the light marking the Finnis Rock. The Eeragh Lighthouse which marks the North Sound entrance to the bay on the north-western side of the islands, was also constructed at the same time. Inisheer and Eeragh both became operational in 1857.
The Harbour lighthouse in Howth is a historic aid to navigation situated on the East pier of the harbour. It was built in the early 19th century to help guide shipping into the newly constructed harbour, which acted as the terminus for the packet service between Ireland and England. In 1982 it was decommissioned and replaced by a modern pole light on an adjacent extension of the pier.
Mew Island Lighthouse is an active lighthouse within the Copeland Islands of County Down in Northern Ireland. The current 19th-century tower is the most recent in a series of lighthouses that have been built in the islands, which have helped to guide shipping around the archipelago and into Belfast Lough.
The Bull Rock Lighthouse, is an active aid to navigation located 4 km off Dursey Island, Ireland.