La Jument
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| Location | Ushant, France (offshore) |
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| Coordinates | 48°25′15″N 5°8′1″W / 48.42083°N 5.13361°WCoordinates: 48°25′15″N 5°8′1″W / 48.42083°N 5.13361°W |
| Year first constructed | 1904-1911 |
| Year first lit | 1911 |
| Automated | 1991 |
| Foundation | Brick with Concrete |
| Construction | Brick with Concrete |
| Tower shape | Octagonal |
| Markings / pattern | Light brown with red lantern |
| Height | 47 m |
| Focal height | 41 m |
| Original lens | Fresnel |
| Current lens | Fresnel |
| Range | 22 nautical miles |
| Characteristic | 3 red brightness every 15 s. 1990 electrification |
La Jument is the name of a lighthouse at the Northwestern part of France, Brittany. The lighthouse is built on a rock (that is also called La Jument) about 300 metres from the coast of the island of Ushant, in the middle of the ocean. There is also an almost identical lighthouse about 3 kilometres to the North, the Nividic lighthouse. Together with the Kreac'h lighthouse, they are the 3 most famous lighthouses of the region.
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[edit] History
This section of the coastline of Brittany, the west coast of Northern France, had always been known by sailors to be a rugged and dangerous area. Being the westernmost point of land, it is a heavily trafficked sealane, and additionally experiences severe weather during much of the year. As such, the area has experienced many shipwrecks over the centuries. One such accident, the wreck of the steam ship Drummond Castle in June, 1896, was responsible for the deaths of nearly 250 people.
Construction began on the lighthouse on the rock of la Jument in 1904, and it was completed in 1911.
[edit] Photographs story
The lighthouse became well-known in 1989, through a series of photographs taken by Jean Guichard during a storm and while the lighthouse keepers were stranded. Upon viewing the pictures, it would be easy to conclude that the man in the shots perished as a result of the wave. However, this is not true.
The lighthouse keepers had been waiting for a rescue helicopter; upon hearing the sound of Guichard's own helicopter, one of them came out to investigate. As the enormous wave broke over the lighthouse, he was able to hastily retreat back inside.[1]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Finnegan, Kathleen (07 2001). "Photographer Who Shot the Wave Appears at Lighthouse Depot". http://www.lighthousedepot.com/lite_digest.asp?action=get_article&sk=01058&bhcd2=1221313653.
[edit] See also
- L'Équipier (Cinema of France: The Light, directed by Philippe Lioret)
- (French) Carte des phares du Finistère (Map of the lighthouses of the département of Finistère)
[edit] References
- (French) Philip Plisson; Guillaume Plisson et Daniel Charles, Phares majeurs de l'arc Atlantique, 2002, pp. 190–191.
- (French) Henri Queffélec : Le phare, histoire romancée de la construction du phare de la Jument au suroit d'Ouessant mêlant le travail bien réel du Service des phares et balises et la trame amoureuse d'un marin de Molène et d'une ouessantine. Roman paru aux Presses de la Cité en 1975.
- (French) Henri Queffélec : La Lumière enchaînée, suite du précédent, histoire du renforcement des foundations du phare de la Jument. Roman paru aux Presses de la Cité en 1976.
[edit] External links
- The story of the La Jument photos
- (French) La Jument - Patrimoine culturel
- Rotation of the lighthouse keepers of the "Jument" (April 1983)
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