Beacon Joints

Living as we do on an island, Britain, and with no resident more than about 70 miles away from a coastline we do tend to have a bit of a soft spot for a lighthouse.

Although perhaps now surplus to requirements what with Global Positioning and all sorts of clever navigational and maritime safety protocols commonplace and accessible to all who venture out to sea they have in the majority survived to become iconic features in our contemporary landscape.

The oldest recorded lighthouse was at Pharos, Alexandria dating from the Third Century BC. Built by the Ptolemaic Kingdom it deserved its place as one of the cited Seven Wonders if the World being at that time at 137 metres tall one of the tallest man made structures in the ancient world and for long afterwards.

By their very nature Lighthouses are required in exposed and difficult to access locations being subject to the ravages of extreme weather although in the case of the Pharos structure it suffered more damage from earthquake than gale force winds until reduced to ruins in the 15th century and the masonry used to build the the Citadel of Qaitbay on the same site.

Engineers in the halcyon days of British Lighthouse construction in the 18th and 19th  Century's pitted their skills against the elements working first in the case of the Eddystone Rock in steel and wood, the latter burning down in 1755. Smeaton's Tower erected in stone in 1759 lasted until the base rock became unsafe leaving only a distinctive stump following its dismantling. Douglass's replacement remains in position to the present.

There are many examples of great design and construction. The Bell Rock Lighthouse on the Firth of Tay in Scotland is built from a bedrock which at high water is submerged to a depth of four metres.

Perhaps the greatest threat to lighthouses has however come from automation, the Trinity House achieving this by 1998 making the need for staff obsolete.

What can be done when this redundancy of buildings occurs?

A few lighthouses have been sold off because a design trait or other physical or locational feature or combination of all of these makes conversion to a viable alternative use difficult or not financially viable.

There is an internet based website dedicated to the selling and renting of lighthouses, aptly using the web address of lighthousesforssale.co.uk. I do a disservice to the site as it does have a wider remit as "A dedicated lighthouse research facility of past, present and future lighthouse sales.......plus lighthouse holiday destinations" .

A good example of a current offering is a 19th-century lighthouse on the Devon coast up for sale with a £450,000 price tag. The selling agents provide a potted history; 

"A beautiful lighthouse which has guided ships off the coast of North Devon since 1874 and was manned full time until 1984. The light can be seen for 25 miles and was replaced with an LED in 2012. It's now fully automated so needs no work. The Grade II listed building has a three-bedroom house with kitchen and bathroom and 15 acres of cliff with helipad. It's in such a secluded spot that it can't be reached by car so has gone on sale complete with a bike"

On shore lighthouses were often part of a grouping of ancillary buildings and cottages for the community of Keepers and many with their families living in. These, post automation, provide a good opportunity for use as seasonal holiday lettings and many are advertised on this basis.

We  were ourselves looking to take a cottage for a week just this September past and the former Lighthouse keeper's cottages at The Lizard Peninsula on the South Devon Coast seemed a possibility to meet our wide ranging criteria. The low, whitewashed buildings sat atop the towering rocky cliffs of the dramatic coastline and internal photos showed character accommodation and yet all modern amenities. We did get a provisional booking through the agents but the owners informed us after a couple of days of anticipation and excitement that it was not available in our chosen week after all. This may have been a blessing in disguise as explained by the following review posted on Trip Advisor from a previous renter;

"Stayed in seven stones cottage next to lighthouse first week in october. Weather mist and rain. Fog horn sounded every 30 secs for 4 days and nights disturbing sleep. Left early. Cornish cottages rental office very unsympathetic. Suggest choosing alternative accomodation if you want to visit the Lizard"

Lighthouses, in spite of some niggles and intolerance by holidaymakers (what do they expect being next to an operational lighthouse and given the likelihood of fog at any time in the British climate, even in the peak summer months?) have survived because of their graceful functional architecture but have now entered into a new era of earning their keep through alternative economic and social use and providing good income generation for local coastal communities where other opportunities may be a bit short in supply.