St. Mary's Lighthouse
| St. Mary's Lighthouse | ||
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| Place: | St. Mary's Island , Tyne and Wear , England | |
| Location: | North Tyneside , England , UK | |
| Geographical location: | 55 ° 4 '18.1 " N , 1 ° 26' 58.1" W | |
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| Construction time: | 1897-1898 | |
| Operating time: | 1898-1984 | |
St. Mary's Lighthouse is a lighthouse on the Tyne and Wear coast north of Whitley Bay and south of Seaton Sluice . The lighthouse stands on the tidal island of St. Mary's Island , which has been accessible from Curry's Point at low tide since 1929 via a low dam that is washed over at high tide. Before the dam was built, access was via stepping stones.
The 38 meter high lighthouse, which signals the mouth of the Tyne especially for ships coming from the north , was built by Thomas Matthews and put into operation on August 31, 1898. The lighthouse replaces an older tower that was on the Tynemouth Priory site, which was then demolished.
When the lighthouse was electrified in 1977, its original lens was dismantled and taken to the Penzance Lighthouse Museum . He received a smaller lens that came from the disused Withernsea Lighthouse . The St. Mary's Lighthouse was automated in 1982. However, in 1984 the lighthouse was shut down by Trinity House . The original lens was brought back to the tower in 2011 from the then closed lighthouse museum.
Today the tower is owned by the municipality and has been open to visitors as a museum since 1994.
The lighthouse is a Historic Monument listed by English Heritage as a Grade II Monument .
The island and the adjacent coast are a nature reserve.
See also
Web links
- St Marys Lighthouse on PastScape - Historic England
- St Marys Lighthouse on Worldwide Lighthouses
- St Mary's Island on Natural England