Nore
The Nore is a long
Until 1964 it marked the seaward limit of the
The Nore is an
Lightship and shape of shoal
The Nore is a hazard to shipping, so in 1732 the world's first lightship was moored over it[1] in an experiment by Robert Hamblin, who patented the idea.[2] This must have proved successful, as by 1819 England had nine lightships.[1] The Nore lightship was run by Trinity House, the general lighthouse authority for England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar.
The early Nore lightships were small wooden vessels, often Dutch-built
The earlier line crossing the deeper eastern part of the shoal where No.1 lightship stood, the line between Havengore Creek, Essex and Warden Point, Kent remains the nominal (conventional) limit of the Thames with the North Sea.
The Nore has been the site of a Royal Navy anchorage since the
, England's principal naval base and dockyard on the North Sea.During the
In 1804, Jonathan Martin, would-be York Minster arsonist, was stationed aboard the 74-gun HMS Hercule here.[3]
From 1899 to 1955, the
Fort
Also during the Second World War a series of defensive towers known as Maunsell Forts was built in the Thames estuary to protect the approach to London from air and sea attack. The Nore was the site of one of these, the Great Nore Tower. It was equipped with a battery of anti-aircraft guns and manned by a unit of the British Army. It was completed in 1943, but was abandoned at the end of hostilities.[6] It was badly damaged in a collision in 1953 and dismantled in 1959–1960.
References
- ^ a b c "Trinity House: Lightvessels" PortCities London Archived 29 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 742.
- ^ The Prometheans: John Martin and the Generation that Stole the Future Max Adams (2010, Quercus), p.60
- ^ The Nore Command during WWI at navalhistory.net. Retrieved 1 May 2016
- ^ The Nore Command during WWII at navalhistory.net. Retrieved 1 May 2016
- ISBN 0-905858-11-5.
External links
- map of Thames estuary, 1840 at thames.me.uk, showing position of Nore lightship
- the Great Nore Tower at bobleroi.co.uk