Needles Lighthouse
| File:The Needles, Isle of Wight, England-2Oct2011.jpg
Aerial view of Needles Lighthouse
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 Isle of Wight
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| Location | Alum Bay Isle of Wight England |
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| Year first constructed | 1786 (first) |
| Year first lit | 1859 (current) |
| Automated | 1994 |
| Construction | granite tower |
| Tower shape | cylindrical tower with lantern and helipad above lantern |
| Markings / pattern | tower with red and white bands |
| Height | 31 m (102 ft) |
| Focal height | 24 m (79 ft) |
| Current lens | 2nd order 700mm fixed lens |
| Intensity | white: 12,300 candela red (intensified): 3,950 candela red: 1,800 candela green 2,860 candela |
| Range | white and red (intensified): 17 nmi (31 km; 20 mi) red and green: 14 nmi (26 km; 16 mi) |
| Characteristic | Oc (2) WRG 20s. |
| Fog signal | two blasts every 30s. |
| Admiralty number | A0528 |
| NGA number | 0584 |
| ARLHS number | ENG 083 |
| Managing agent | Trinity House[1] [2] |
The Needles Lighthouse was built by Trinity House in 1859 on the outermost of the chalk rocks near sea level. Designed by James Walker, it cost £20,000. Constructed from granite, it stands 33.25 metres (109.1 ft) high and is a circular tower with straight sides.
It replaced a light tower on top of a cliff overhanging Scratchell's Bay, which was first lit on 29 September 1786. Its height of 144m above sea level meant it was often obscured by fog and sea mists.[3]
In 1987 a helipad was added to the top of the lighthouse, and it became fully automated when the last keepers left on 8 December 1994.[3] One of the last three remaining manned rock lighthouses in England and Wales, before automation it was staffed by a three-man crew operating a 24-hour watch, serving one month on / one month off, living in rudimentary conditions in three levels below the light.[4]
Due to the condition of the chalk strata on which the lighthouse was built, in April 2010 a £500,000 underpinning project was announced, designed to stop the lighthouse falling into the sea.[5] Over a 12-week period from early June, civil marine contractors Nuttall John Martin were due to dig a trench around the base of the lighthouse, install a ring of stabilising posts, and infill it with concrete.[6]
See also
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References
- ↑ The Needles The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved May 3rd, 2016
- ↑ Needles Lighthouse Trinity House. Retrieved May 3rd, 2016
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External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Needles Lighthouse. |
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