Happisburgh Lighthouse

Infobox_Lighthouse

---

caption =
location = Happisburgh, Norfolk, England
coordinates = coord|52|49.17|N|01|32.32|E|region:GB_type:landmark
yearlit = 1791
automated = 1929
yeardeactivated =
foundation =
construction = Masonry
elevation = 15 m
shape = round
height = 26 m (85 ft)
currentlens = Catadioptric Fixed Lens
range = 14 nm (26 km)
characteristic = White group flashing 3 times every 30 seconds

Happisburgh Lighthouse in Happisburgh on the North Norfolk coast is the only independently operated lighthouse in Great Britain. It is also the oldest working lighthouse in East Anglia.

The lighthouse is painted white with three red bands and has a light characteristic of Fl(3)30s (3 white flashes, repeated every 30secs) at a height of convert|135|ft|m|1|abbr=on with a range of convert|14|mi|km|1. [ [http://www.happisburgh.org/lighthouse Happisburgh Lighthouse website] ]

History

It was constructed in 1790, originally as one of a pair of candle-powered lights, and has been electrified since 1947. The tower is convert|85|ft|m|1|abbr=on tall, putting the lantern at convert|134|ft|m|1|abbr=on above sea level ["Lighthouses of the World & Fog Signals" - Alexander Finlay, Richard HolmesLaurie, 1888] . The other lighthouse - the 'low light' which was decommissioned and demolished in 1883 - was convert|20|ft|m|1|abbr=on lower. Together they formed a pair of range lights marking a safe passage around the southern end of the offshore Haisborough Sands convert|8|mi|km|1 to the safe waters of 'The Would'. [ [http://www.happisburgh.org/content/view/12/26/ Happisburgh Village Website - History of Happisburgh Lighthouse ] ] .

Independence

In 1987 Happisburgh was one of 5 lighthouses declared redundant by Trinity House and deactivation was planned for June 1988. Villagers organised a petition to oppose the closure, and as a result the date was postponed.

Under the Merchant Shipping Act of 1894 [ [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1894/pdf/ukpga_18940060_en.pdf Merchant Shipping Act of 1894, part XI (p. 260 of the PDF version)] ] Trinity House can only dispose of a working Lighthouse to an Established Lighthouse Authority. On 25th April 1990 the Happisburgh Lighthouse Act [ [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/Acts/ukpga/1894/cukpga_18940060_en_1 Happisburgh Lighthouse Act as annotation C9 modification of Merchant Shipping Act of 1894] ] received the Royal Assent establishing the Happisburgh Lighthouse Trust as a Local Light Authority, and Happisburgh became the only independently run operational lighthouse in Great Britain.

References

ee also

* "Our Seamarks" - E. Price Edwards, Longmans Green & Co., 1884
* "Trinity House from Within" - Capt. Thomas Golding CBE, private printing, 1929
* "The Worlds Lighthouses Before 1820" - D. Alan Stevenson, Oxford University Press, 1959
* "Lighthouses - Their Architecture, History and Archaeology" - Douglas B. Hague & Rosemary Christie, Gomer Press, 1975
* "Lights of East Anglia" - Neville Long, Terence Dalton Ltd., 1983

External links

* [http://www.happisburgh.org/lighthouse Happisburgh Lighthouse website]
* [http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk Trinity House Lighthouse Service]