Wyre Light

Coordinates: 53°57′11″N 3°01′37″W / 53.953°N 3.027°W / 53.953; -3.027
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Wyre Light
The derelict Wyre Light in 2007
Map
Locationoffshore Fleetwood
Lancashire
England
United Kingdom
Coordinates53°57′11″N 3°01′37″W / 53.953°N 3.027°W / 53.953; -3.027
Tower
Constructed1840
Foundationwrought iron piles
Constructioncast iron screw-pile lighthouse
Height4.9 metres (16 ft) (piles)
Shapehexagonal frustum structure with platform, keeper's quarter and lantern
Light
Deactivated1979[1]
Focal height14 metres (46 ft) (above half tide level)
Range8 nautical miles (15 km; 9.2 mi)[2]
Drawing of Wyre Light

The Wyre Light was a 40-foot (12 m) tall iron screw-pile lighthouse marking the navigation channel to the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire, England.[3]

History

The lighthouse was designed by

Thames estuary had started before Wyre Light, the latter was completed in a much shorter period of time.[4] These lights inspired other similar constructions such as the Thomas Point Shoal Light
in the United States.

The Wyre Light stood 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) offshore on the 'North Wharf Bank', sandbanks which mark the 'Lune Deep' and the navigation channel of the

Pharos provided a navigational guide to shipping entering the Wyre estuary
.

The Light's base consisted of seven wrought iron piles embedded in the sands. Each was 16 ft (4.9 m) long with cast-iron screw bases 3 ft (0.91 m) in diameter. The six corner piles formed a hexagonal platform of 50 ft (15 m) diameter. (The seventh pile served as a centre pillar.) The platform supported the lantern and a two-storey building to house the keeper. Construction began in 1839 and the lantern was lit on 6 June 1840. The building was destroyed by fire in 1948 and not replaced. After the fire, the beacon was made automatic and eventually replaced by a lighted buoy in 1979, leaving behind a derelict structure.

On 25 July 2017, the lighthouse partially collapsed into the sea.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ Wyre Light, Fleetwood Archived 4 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine engineering-timelines.com. Retrieved 6 June 2016
  2. ^ Wyre Lighthouse Archived 29 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine mycetes.co.uk. Retrieved 6 June 2016
  3. ^ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Northwest England". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  4. ^ Tomlinson, ed. (1852–54). Tomlinson's Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts. London: Virtue & Co. p. 177. Archived from the original on 23 March 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  5. ^ "PICTURES: Fleetwood's ruined lighthouse partially collapses". Blackpool Gazette. 26 July 2017. Archived from the original on 27 July 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.

Sources

  • H N Denham, Sailing directions from Port Lynas to Liverpool... Mawdsley, Liverpool, 1840

External links