Happisburgh Lighthouse
 |
|
| Location | Happisburgh, Norfolk, England |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 52°49.17′N 01°32.32′E / 52.8195°N 1.53867°E |
| Year first lit | 1791 |
| Automated | 1929 |
| Construction | Masonry |
| Tower shape | round |
| Height | 26 m (85 ft) |
| Focal height | 15 m |
| Current lens | Catadioptric Fixed Lens |
| Range | 14 nm (26 km) |
| Characteristic | White group flashing 3 times every 30 seconds |
 |
|
| Problems listening to this file? See media help. | |
Happisburgh Lighthouse in Happisburgh on the North Norfolk coast is the only independently operated lighthouse in Great Britain. It is also the oldest working lighthouse in East Anglia.
The lighthouse is painted white with three red bands and has a light characteristic of Fl(3)30s (3 white flashes, repeated every 30 seconds) at a height of 135 ft (41.1 m) with a range of 14 miles (22.5 km).[1]
Contents |
[edit] History
The existing building was constructed in 1790, originally as one of a pair of candle-powered lights ("High Lighthouse" and "Low Lighthouse")[2] and has been electrified since 1947. The tower is 85 ft (25.9 m) tall, putting the lantern at 134 ft (40.8 m) above sea level.[3] The other lighthouse - the 'low light' which was decommissioned and demolished in 1883 before it could be lost due to coastal erosion - was 20 ft (6.1 m) lower. Together they formed a pair of range lights that marked a safe passage around the southern end of the offshore Haisborough Sands 8 miles (12.9 km) to the safe waters of 'The Would'.[4]
[edit] Independence
In 1987 Happisburgh was one of 5 lighthouses declared redundant by Trinity House and deactivation was planned for June 1988. Villagers organised a petition to oppose the closure, and as a result the date was postponed.
Under the Merchant Shipping Act of 1894,[5] Trinity House may dispose of a working lighthouse only to an established Lighthouse Authority. On 25 April 1990 the Happisburgh Lighthouse Act[6] received the Royal Assent establishing the Happisburgh Lighthouse Trust as a Local Light Authority, and Happisburgh became the only independently run operational lighthouse in Great Britain.
[edit] In popular culture
- Location of Ellie Goulding's video for 2010 song The Writer.[7]
[edit] See also
- Price Edwards, E. (2010). Our Seamarks (1884). BiblioBazaar. ISBN 1146416377.
- Golding CBE, Capt. Thomas (1929). Trinity House from Within. private printing.
- Hague, Douglas B.; Christie, Rosemary (1975). Lighthouses - Their Architecture, History and Archaeology. Llandysul : Gomer Press. ISBN 0850883245.
- Long, Neville (1983). Lights of East Anglia. Terence Dalton Ltd.. ISBN 0861380290.
- Stevenson, D. Alan (1959). The World's Lighthouses Before 1820. Oxford University Press.
[edit] References
- ^ Happisburgh Lighthouse website
- ^ http://www.british-history.ac.uk/mapsheet.aspx?compid=55129&sheetid=5983&ox=2925&oy=2631&zm=2&czm=2&x=393&y=277
- ^ "Lighthouses of the World & Fog Signals" - Alexander Finlay, Richard Holmes Laurie, 1888
- ^ Happisburgh Village Website - History of Happisburgh Lighthouse
- ^ Merchant Shipping Act of 1894, part XI (p. 260 of the PDF version)
- ^ Happisburgh Lighthouse Act as annotation C9 modification of Merchant Shipping Act of 1894
- ^ "The Writer... prochain single d'Ellie Goulding.". news-de-stars.com. 21 June 2010. http://www.news-de-stars.com/musique/the-writer-prochain-single-d-ellie-goulding_mrm90085.html. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
[edit] External links
- Happisburgh Lighthouse website
- Trinity House Lighthouse Service
- An 1892 OS map, showing both the Happisburgh lighthouses ('England - Norfolk: 030/NW', Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 - Epoch 1 (1892)). Date accessed: 28 August 2010
Coordinates: 52°49.17′N 01°32.32′E / 52.8195°N 1.53867°E
|
|||||
