Chicken Rock Lighthouse

Chicken Rock Lighthouse

Chicken Rock lighthouse with passing cargo vessel
Isle of Man
Location Offshore on Chicken Rock, just off the Isle of Man
Coordinates 54°02.271′N 4°50.315′W / 54.037850°N 4.838583°W / 54.037850; -4.838583Coordinates: 54°02.271′N 4°50.315′W / 54.037850°N 4.838583°W / 54.037850; -4.838583
Year first lit 1875
Automated 1961
Construction granite tower
Tower shape tapered cylindrical tower with gallery and lantern
Height 44 metres (144 ft)
Focal height 38 metres (125 ft)
Range 21 mi (34 km)
Characteristic Fl W 5s.
Admiralty number A4748
NGA number 114-4956
Managing agent Northern Lighthouses Board

The Chicken Rock Lighthouse is an active 19th century lighthouse, located on Chicken Rock an isolated island at the southern end of the Isle of Man. Completed in 1874, the 44-metre-high (144 ft) tower is constructed of tapered granite and was designed by David and Thomas Stevenson. The need for the light on Chicken Rock was identified as early as 1866, due to the problem of fog obscuring the two lights on the nearby Calf of Man, hindering safe passage through the North Channel between Scotland and Ireland.[1][2]

History

Detail of the tower

Approval to start work on the lighthouse was given in 1868. Constructed of granite blocks forming a tapered tower, with a lantern room and single gallery, it was designed by the two brothers, David and Thomas of the Stevenson lighthouse engineering family. At the same time as overseeing this project, they were also involved in the building of the lighthouse on Dubh Artach in Scotland. Construction finished in December 1874, with the first official lighting day taking place on 1 January 1875. The total cost was £64,559 (equivalent to £5,484,906 as of 2015).[3][4]

The light was originally fuelled by paraffin, although the type of fuel used and whether the optics should display a red sector light was a matter of dispute between David and Trinity House.

A fire heavily damaged the interior of the lighthouse on 23 December 1960. The three lighthouse keepers, one of whom suffered burns from the fire, were rescued by the Port St Mary RNLI lifeboat. Although the lighthouse was repaired following the fire, it was not used by any resident keepers again, and was instead automated in 1961.[1][4]

The lighthouse continues to be operated and maintained by the Northern Lighthouse Board.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Chicken Rock Lighthouse". Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  2. ↑ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the Isle of Man". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  3. ↑ UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from Gregory Clark (2016), "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)" MeasuringWorth.
  4. 1 2 Christopher P. Nicholson (1995). Rock Lighthouses of Britain: The End of an Era?. Dundurn. pp. 167–. ISBN 978-1-870325-41-7.
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