St Agnes lighthouse is a 17th century lighthouse situated on St Agnes on the Isles of Scilly. It was the second to be built in the western approaches (after the Lizard lighthouse of 1619); it was also only the second lighthouse station to be established by Trinity House (after Lowestoft in 1609).[1]
In 1680 Trinity House began a survey of the coasts of England as it was known that the contemporary charts were inaccurate; the Isles of Scilly was plotted ten miles to the north. On 24 May that year, Trinity House was given permission to erect and maintain one or more lighthouses on the islands. St Agnes was chosen as it is the most westerly of the habitable islands and close to the collection of rocks, tidal flows and currents, now known as the Western Rocks.[2]
The lighthouse was built in 1680 and stands 74' above the ground, and 138' above mean high water; the incorporation of gun ports in the structure of the tower is an unusual feature.[1] A plaque records the original construction by Captains Hugh Hill and Simon Bayly (builders of the 1676 Lowestoft lighthouse). There were two protests against the building of the St Agnes light: officials from the Isle of Wight complained that they would lose revenue from harbour dues and victualling as shipping would prefer to use the Isles of Scilly, and the Governor of Scilly objected on the grounds that he would lose money from wrecks.[2] Earlier petitions to build a lighthouse on St Agnes (submitted by private individuals and companies in 1665 and 1679) had been refused.[1]
A rare surviving cresset (left) from the coal-fired lighthouse; now in Tresco Abbey Gardens.
The light was first lit on 30 October 1680; it was provided by coal burned within a brazier atop the tower. By 1756 the brazier was set within a lantern structure made up of 16 sash windows, roofed, with multiple chimneys.[3] The lighthouse was coal fired until 1790, when it was converted to oil: twenty-one Argand lamps with reflectors, mounted on a three-sided revolving array.[1] This 'very novel and ingenious operation' represented an innovation in optic design which was subsequently adopted in other lighthouses, including those at Cromer and Flamborough Head.[4] In 1806 the lantern structure at the top of the tower was rebuilt (as seen today)[1] to accommodate an enlarged three-sided revolving array of 30 lamps, each with a 21-inch reflector.[5]
After the completion of Bishop Rock Lighthouse in 1858, St Agnes's lost its status as a landfall light and England's westernmost lighthouse. It was, in any case, prone to fog (due not least to its inland location). In 1880 the optical equipment was upgraded:[6] it now consisted of fourteen reflectors and lamps (two-wick mineral oil burners), arranged (in two tiers, three above and four below) on opposite sides of a revolving square frame.[7] The speed of rotation was increased, to give a flash every thirty seconds (rather than, as previously, every minute).[6] In 1911 the St Agnes lighthouse was decommissioned, having been superseded by Peninnis Lighthouse (a 17-metre-tall black and white steel lattice tower situated on the southern extremity of St. Mary's island). The old lighthouse tower continues to be maintained as a daymark for shipping.
^ abcdeHistoric England. "Scheduled Monument: St Agnes lighthouse (1014999)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
^ abVyvyan, Clara C (1960). The Scilly Isles. London: Robert Hale.
^"On This Day in Trinity House History – 30 October". Trinity House. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
^Cotton, Joseph (1818). Memoir on the Origin and Incorporation of the Trinity House of Deptford Strond. London. p. 134.
^"Lighthouse management : the report of the Royal Commissioners on Lights, Buoys, and Beacons, 1861, examined and refuted Vol. 2". 1861. p. 91.
^ abLondon Gazette, Issue 24887, Page 5120, 1 October 1880
^Ashpitel, F. W. (1895). Report on Light-house Construction and Illumination. Madras: Government Press. p. 82.
and 21 Related for: St Agnes Lighthouse information
differentiate the light from the nearby StAgneslighthouse (which displayed a white light) and from Les Hanois Lighthouse (which displayed a red light) it was...
This is a list of lighthouses in England. It includes lighthouses which are no longer in use as a light but are still standing. It also includes some...
visibility (as judged by the clarity of the light visible from StAgnes'sLighthouse, five nautical miles (nine kilometres) away) both tiers were used...
Lighthouse is situated on Peninnis Head, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly. The light was built to replace the lighthouse in the centre of the island of St Agnes...
December – A cargo vessel ( Kingdom of England) wrecked off StAgnes. The lighthouse keeper on StAgnes was found guilty of negligence for being inattentive...
sea, which extinguished her fires." Then, mistaking StAgnesLighthouse for Longships Lighthouse, they ran onto Jacky's Rock, between Rosevear and Crebawethan...
internship in St. Augustine, Florida, with LAMP (Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program), the research arm of the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum, where...
The Jones Point Light is a small river lighthouse located on the Potomac River in Alexandria, Virginia. It was built in 1855. It is a small, one-story...
of Pembrokeshire Ynys Llanddwyn off Anglesey Mumbles Lighthouse located in Mumbles, near Swansea St Catherine's Island in Pembrokeshire Sully Island in...
National Biography, 1885–1900, Volume 55, Strickland, Agnes Retrieved December 2017. "The Church of St Edmund, King and Martyr". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved...
with the coast to the east, was designated as part of the Godrevy Head to StAgnes SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) in 1951. The western side of...
Portside Preschool and Long Day Care Centre StAgnes Early Education Centre St.Joseph's Family Services St.Joseph's Preschool and Long Day Care Centre...
Cove is a small bay on the north Cornish coast and a residential area of StAgnes, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. In the 18th and 19th centuries it was...
the headland is a squat lighthouse built in 1911 by Trinity House as a replacement for the 17th century lighthouse on StAgnes. The Gilstone, a prominent...
appeared as co-presenter (with Ed Stewart) of "The Magic of Mantovani" at Lighthouse, Poole. The success of this concert led, the following year, to a second...
southwestern tip of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. One of the islands, StAgnes, is over four miles (six kilometres) further south than the most southerly...
Cromer Lighthouse is situated in the coastal town of Cromer, in the English county of Norfolk. There has been a lighthouse on the cliff top at Foulness...
agriculture minister, dies at age 92 Margaret Riley, 'Bombshell' Producer and Lighthouse Management Co-Founder, Dies at 58 Rednex-sångaren Anders Sandberg är död...
sisters". April 1913: A bomb is discovered at Smeaton's Tower, an old lighthouse on Plymouth Hoe, painted with the words "Votes For Women. Death In Ten...
at Mumbles Head, Wales. Ace and Wright were daughters of the Mumbles Lighthouse keeper Abraham Ace. On 27 January 1883, an 885-ton German barque named...