Eddystone Lighthouse

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An Aerial View of the Eddystone Lighthouse. (The remains of the old lighthouse can be seen in the background.)

The Eddystone Lighthouse is situated some 9 miles (15 km) South West of Rame Head Cornwall, England on the treacherous Eddystone Rocks [50°10.80′N 04°15.90′W].

The current structure is the fourth lighthouse (some say it is the fifth–the first was considerably rebuilt after a major storm in its first winter; the challenge was met by four main designs).

The first was an octagonal wooden structure created by Henry Winstanley and the light was first lit on 14 November 1698. It lasted five years before the Great Storm of 1703 erased almost all trace of it on 27 November, killing Winstanley in the process.

The second lighthouse was designed by John Rudyard (or Rudyerd) as a conical wooden structure and was first lit in 1709. It survived until 2 December 1755 when it was destroyed by fire. (See Henry Hall for the full story.)

The third lighthouse, known as Smeaton's Tower, was perhaps the most notable as it marked a major step forward in the design of such structures. Recommended to the task by the Royal Society, civil engineer John Smeaton pioneered the use of 'hydraulic lime' (a form of concrete) and developed a technique involving dovetailed blocks of granite in the building of the lighthouse (1756-1759).

While in use, the Eddystone tower was 59 ft 2 in (18.0 m) in height. Its diameter at the base is 25 ft 8 in (7.82 m) and the diameter at the top is 16 ft 8 in (5.08 m). Smeaton's lighthouse (the shape modelled on that of an oak tree) remained in use until 1877 when it was discovered that the rocks upon which it stood were becoming eroded—each time a large wave hit the lighthouse it would shake from side to side. The lighthouse was dismantled and partially rebuilt at Plymouth Hoe as a memorial; the Victorian builders could not dismantle the whole structure due to the strength of the dovetailing and hydraulic lime. The foundations remain on the Eddystone Rocks in near perfect condition except for the top portion which, being originally situated inside the lighthouse, lacked protection against salt water. They are close to the new (and more solid) foundations of the current lighthouse.

The current, fourth lighthouse was designed by James Douglass, developing some techniques pioneered by Robert Stevenson, and opened in 1882. The tower is 51m high.

The lighthouse inspired the shanty that begins

'My father was the keeper o' the Eddystone light.

He slept with a mermaid one fine night.

From this union there came three:

A porpoise and a and the other was me...'

The lighthouse may also have inspired the name of the popular music group Edison Lighthouse, being a weak pun on Eddystone, although the etymology of the group's name is uncertain.

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