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!