Established 1703 (present tower 1882).
Height of tower 51 metres.
Height of light above Mean High Water 41 metres.
Range 24 miles.
Intensity 570,000 candle power.
Light Characteristics-- White Group Flashing twice every 10 seconds.
Subsidiary Fixed Red Light-- covers a 17 degree arc marking a dangerous reef called the Hands Deep.
Fog Signal-- Super Tyfon sounding three times every 60 seconds.
Automatic Light--Serviced via Helicopter Platform.

One of the world's most famous, if not the most famous lighthouses is the Eddystone Lighthouse, which stands on a treacherous group of rocks some fourteen miles out at sea, bearing 211° from Plymouth Breakwater, in the South West of the United Kingdom.

The Eddystone Lighthouse was the first lighthouse to be built on a small group of rocks in the open sea and resulted in a few disasters until the present lighthouse which stands there today. Given the harsh surrounding these early lighthouses where a marvel of ingenuity.

WINSTANLEY’S TOWER 1698 - 1703
The first tower attempt to render the Eddystone Reef of rocks safe to shipping was by Henry Winstanley a merchant and we are told an eccentric. Winstanley invested money in shipping and it was one of these ships that was wrecked on the Eddystone Reef. It was then that Winstanley promised to rid the English Channel of such a menace to shipping. This first lighthouse was a marvel of early engineering.

In 1696 Winstanley commenced work on a wooden structure The work progressed steadily until 1697 when a incident occurred in which a French privateer captured Winstanley and took him to France. England was at war with France at this time. However, when Louis XIV heard of the incident he immediately ordered that Winstanley be released saying that "France was at war with England not which humanity". This proved the international importance of the Eddystone Lighthouse.

The light on the Eddystone was first lit on the 14th of November 1698, and although the lighthouse survived that first winter it was found to be badly in need of repair. The whole top of the structure was removed and a 2nd tower was then erected.

During the following spring Winstanley greatly altered and strengthened his 2nd tower whilst imparting numerous new features. The lighthouse was finally finished in 1699.

Having great confidence in his structure Winstanley expressed a wish to be on the lighthouse during a storm. In November 1703, the greatest storm ever recorded in this country occurred and Winstanley had arrived at the lighthouse the evening before to carry out urgent repairs. The following day there was hardly any of the lighthouse structure to be seen and its occupants had disappeared. The lighthouse had survived only five years.

RUDYERD’S TOWER 1709 - 1755
The 3rd lighthouse was built by a man who managed to get a patent charter for the Eddystone Lighthouse. His name was Captain Lovett. He managed to get a lease on the Eddystone Rocks for a period of 99 years by an Act of Parliament. As a result he was allowed to charge all ships passing a toll of 1 penny per ton, both inwards and outward. I am unsure how this was collected but it must have been interesting.

The designer of this lighthouse was John Rudyerd, who was a silk merchant. Rudyerd designed a cone shaped tower instead of Winstanley's octagonal shape. His final wooden tower was lit in 1709 and proved much more serviceable than Winstanley's Lighthouse. This lighthouse had been built by a great amateur and stood for 47 years until the night of 2nd December 1755, when the top of the lantern caught fire.

It was reported that 94 year old Henry Hall was the keeper of the watch that night. He did his best to put out the fire by throwing water upwards from a bucket. While doing so the leaden roof melted and the molten lead ran down over him, burning him badly; his mouth was open whilst looking up and some of the molten lead ran down his throat. He and the other keeper battled continuously against the fire but they could do nothing as the fire was above them all the time, as it burnt downwards it gradually drove them out onto the rock. The fire was observed from the shore by a Mr. Edwards, 'a man of some fortune and more humanity'. The old account says he sent off a boat which arrived at the lighthouse at 10 a.m. after the fire had been burning for 8 hours. The sea was too rough for the boat to approach the rock so they threw ropes and dragged the keepers through the waves to the boat. The lighthouse continued to burn for 5 days and was completely destroyed.

Henry Hall died some 12 days later. Doctor Spry of Plymouth who attended him made a post mortem and found a flat oval piece of lead in his stomach which weighed 7ozs. Dr. Spry wrote an account of his findings in this case to the Royal Society of Fellows. The society where very skeptical, he was very annoyed at this, and for the sake of his reputation carried out experiments on dogs and fowls and proved that they could live after having molten lead poured down their throats. (The piece of lead from Hall's stomach may be seen in the Edinburgh Museum)

SMEATON’S TOWER 1759 - 1882
After experiencing the benefit of a light on the rock for 52 years mariners were anxious to have it replaced as soon as possible. Trinity House placed a light vessel to guard the position until a permanent light could be built.