Eddystone Lighthouse

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The Eddystone Lighthouse ( eng. Eddystone Lighthouse ) is a lighthouse off the coast of Cornwall. He is one of the most famous lighthouses in the British Isles and is about 14 miles off the headland Rame Head to temporarily washed over Eddystone Rocks. The current lighthouse is the fourth at this point.

The Winstanley Tower (1698-1703)

The first lighthouse was built in 1696-1698 by Henry Winstanley. Winstanley had gone to sea as a merchant himself, and therefore knew from his own experience the dangers posed by the Eddystone shoal. He built on a small rock an octagonal wooden tower. The Admiralty recognized the importance of the navaid for shipping, so that because of the Nine Years' War, a warship designed to protect the worker. However, Winstanley was kidnapped in 1697 by a privateer, he came up fast command Louis XIV released because the lighthouse was also for the French Marine of use. Winstanley also stopped during the great storm of 1703 in the tower, which destroyed them so that Winstanley and five other people in the tower were killed.

The Rudyerd Tower (1709-1755)

Then the rocks to a Captain Lovett was leased, who was allowed to collect from any party to the new lighthouse to be built passing ship a customs fee. He built a new lighthouse by John Rudyerd to 1709. Rudyerd was a merchant and had no practical experience in the construction of ships or lighthouses, but his conical shaped, wooden tower was completed despite the difficult subsoil and lasted more than 40 years. On 2 December 1755, the top of the tower caught fire and could not be deleted, despite the attempts to extinguish the two lighthouse keepers. The tower eventually burned down completely, one of the lighthouse keepers suffered at the extinguishing tests serious injuries, where he died a few days later.

Smeaton 's Tower (1759-1882)

After the first two wooden buildings at this point were destroyed by accident, John Smeaton designed a stone lighthouse. The design was based on the growth form of an oak trunk and consisted of one another mortised through dovetails and secured with waterproof concrete blocks of granite. Construction began in 1756 and was completed three years later. The lighthouse was 18 m high and had tapered at the foot of a diameter of 8 m at the top to 5 m. The lighthouse stood until 1877, when it was found that the ground was now damaged by erosion. The upper parts of Smeaton's Tower were demolished and rebuilt on the Hoe in Plymouth as a monument again, the stump of the base still stands next to the fourth tower.

Douglass ' tower (since 1882)

In its place, a fourth lighthouse was built. It was built and designed by James Douglass, who went back on improvements that Robert Stevenson has developed and which had been tested on the Bell Rock Lighthouse. The fourth lighthouse in 1882 on the operation. 100 years later, the operation was automated. The current tower is 49 m high and its light can be seen 22 nautical miles.

He was taken in 1991 by the American Society of Civil Engineers in the List of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks.

Responsible for the operation of the public administration beacon Trinity House.

Old views

Smeaton's Tower

The present lighthouse and the rest of Smeaton's Tower

Douglass ' tower