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I have a burning need to know stuff and I love asking awkward questions.

Thursday, January 27, 2022


Just Finished Reading: Seashaken Houses – A Lighthouse History from Eddystone to Fastnet by Tom Nancollas (FP: 2018) [226pp] 

For centuries the coast around the UK and Ireland were renowned for being treacherous. Countless ships, from the early Greeks in search of tin from Cornwall to the Spanish Armada and beyond founded on rocks – both known and unknown – within sight of safe harbour. With only rudimentary navigational aids resulting in only roughly knowing where a ship actually was at any given moment it was only the volatile mixture of luck and experience that saved (or doomed) ships, crews and cargoes. As Britain’s maritime trade and power increased something needed to be done to make the transport of goods, people and the projection of growing Imperial might safer. Part of that process was the improvement of navigation and the building of lighthouses on shore to alert sailors to hazards further out to sea. But shore-based lighthouses can only do so much. What was really needed were lighthouses close to (or actually on!) the hazardous rocks themselves. Starting in the late 17th century and culminating in the early 20th a string of lighthouses were constructed in some of the least hospitable places imaginable. With only hours between tides groups of braze men dug foundations in unforgiving rock to construct towers of granite (having learnt the HARD way that wood and iron stood little chance against the fury of the sea) that needed to stand against the furious assault of towering waves. They had to be constructed in such a way that they could be supplier with men and material to sustain them and the all-important light that shone across the troubled waters to sailors and ship captains trying to bring their charges home safe to port. This excellent little book is their story covering the early attempts at lighthouse (or simply lights on poles!) design, construction and technological progress from candle power to LED and from manpower to automation. It’s a hell of a story. 

Told by someone who has both a fascination and love for these odd dwellings – essentially ‘houses’ designed to be built in the sea and survive for decades or longer as the oceans try to take the land back to its own domain – this was a lovely little book and an honestly riveting read. I knew a little about lighthouses going in and have seen a few (at a distance) but had no idea who built/designed them – including the family of R L Stephenson – nor the effort that went into their construction and all in a time, remember, when buildings went up without any aid from or knowledge of the data sets present day designers and engineers take for granted. This is a marvelous look at an aspect of maritime history that is far too often overlooked or sidelined. Definitely recommended for anyone interested in the sea or slightly ‘odd-ball’ architecture. More to come on this subject! 

7 comments:

Stephen said...

What an interesting topic!

mudpuddle said...

i read a book about RLS's uncles and father and their industrious erecting of lighthouses all around Britain; it was excellent! they tried to get their nephew interested in being an engineer but it didn't take...

CyberKitten said...

@ Stephen: Well, I did pick it up on 'spec because it looked odd and interesting, and it was both. The author (who works for English Heritage) travelled to several lighthouses, stayed over night in one and for a few days in another whilst its generator was being serviced. Plus he went into the history of illumination technology and lens development. All fascinating stuff.

@ Mudpuddle: Was the book: An Account of the Building of the Bell Rock Lighthouse (1824)? The author references that. Apparently it's quite an exhaustive text! [grin] I think nephew Bob was more interested in books... [lol]

mudpuddle said...

i don't recall the name of the book, but building Bell Rock was a major struggle: they could only work on it when it was low tide and the foundations kept getting washed away by storms. one account of a storm in North Scotland had waves pitching rocks thru windows 160' above sea level if i remember right...

Cleo said...

Oh my, I think I'd love this book, especially as it deals with the seas around the UK and Ireland! I suspect I'll have absolutely no chance of finding it at my library but perhaps it will turn up somewhere. Thanks for a fascinating review!

CyberKitten said...

@ Mudpuddle: That sounds like the 1824 book. The author goes into a bit of detail about it.

@ Cleo: Your library should be able to order it if it doesn't already have a copy. It's worth asking them if you think you'd love to read it!

Marianne said...

This sounds like a fascinating book about lighthouses which always are a bit of a fairytale for me. Thanks for letting me know about this.

And thanks for visiting my TTT this week which is about lighthouses.