St Bees Lighthouse
| St Bees Lighthouse | ||
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| Place: | St Bees Head , Cumbria England | |
| Location: | Irish Sea | |
| Geographical location: | 54 ° 30 '49.1 " N , 3 ° 38' 12" W | |
| Fire carrier height : | 17 m | |
| Fire height : | 102 m | |
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| Identifier : | Fl (2) W.20s | |
| Operating mode: | electric | |
| Function: | Sea fire | |
| Construction time: | 1822 | |
| Operating time: | since 1719 | |
The St Bees Lighthouse is a lighthouse in Cumbria , England . The lighthouse stands on the headland of St Bees Head south of Whitehaven and north of St Bees and marks the southern end of the Solway Firth .
history
The English Parliament in 1718 gave the Trinity House Beacon Administration permission to build a lighthouse at St Bees Head. This right was leased to Thomas Lutwige for a period of 99 years for a fee of £ 20 . Lutwige had to build and maintain a lighthouse at his own expense. In return, he received a fee of 3.5 pence for every ton of cargo that was handled in the ports of Whitehaven, Maryport and Workington , because in these ports the beacon was intended to be of particular assistance with navigation.
Lutwige built a tower nine meters high and five meters wide, at the top of which a coal fire burned on a grate. The lighthouse keeper had to bring the coal to the tower for this fire, for which he received seven shillings a week. The coal fire led to complaints from the ship's owners, as it was very irregular in strength in windy weather and was often obscured by thick smoke.
When the tower was destroyed by fire in 1822, Trinity House decided to replace the last coal-powered lighthouse in England with an oil-powered one. The tower, which is still standing today, was built to designs by Joseph Nelson . The current lamp was installed in 1866. The tower was switched to automatic operation in 1987.
