The Needles Lighthouse is an active 19th century

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

on the outermost of the

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...

rocks at

The Needles The Needles is a row of three stacks of chalk that rise about out of the sea off the western extremity of the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, United Kingdom, close to Alum Bay and Scratchell's Bay, and part of Totland, the westernmo ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, near sea level. Designed by James Walker, for

Trinity House "Three In One" , formation = , founding_location = Deptford, London, England , status = Royal Charter corporation and registered charity , purpose = Maintenance of lighthouses, buoys and beacons , he ...

at a cost of £20,000. It was completed in 1859 from granite blocks, stands high and is a circular tower with straight sides. It replaced an earlier light tower on top of a cliff overhanging

Scratchell's Bay Scratchell's Bay is a bay on the south west coast of the Isle of Wight, England just to the south east of The Needles. It faces roughly south towards the English Channel, it is 250m in length and is straight. The name is thought to have come fr ...

, which was first lit on 29 September 1786.

The first lighthouse

In 1781 a group of merchants and ship owners petitioned

for navigation lights to be provided around the western approaches to

the Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit which projects into the Solent narrows the sea crossing between Hurst Castle and Colwell Bay to ...

. The response was positive, but it was not until 1785 that construction began, on three new lighthouses: one on the clifftop above the Needles, one on Hurst Point and one on St Catherine's Down (which was left unfinished and never lit); all three were designed by

Richard Jupp Richard Jupp (1728 – 17 April 1799) was an 18th-century English architect, particularly associated with buildings in and around London. He served for many years (c. 1755 – 1799) as surveyor to the British East India Company. Works His wor ...

. From September the following year the Needles light was operational. It was described as 'a low truncated cone, situated on the highest point of the lofty cliffs .. and near the edge of the cliff, forming the western extremity of the island'; however, its height of above sea level meant it was often obscured by fog and sea mists, a problem that eventually led to its replacement some 70 years later. Illumination was provided by 13

Argand lamp The Argand lamp is a type of oil lamp invented in 1780 by Aimé Argand. Its output is 6 to 10 candelas, brighter than that of earlier lamps. Its more complete combustion of the candle wick and oil than in other lamps required much less frequent ...

s with

parabolic reflectors A parabolic (or paraboloid or paraboloidal) reflector (or dish or mirror) is a reflective surface used to collect or project energy such as light, sound, or radio waves. Its shape is part of a circular paraboloid, that is, the surface generated ...

; The light initially shone white, but on 1 March 1840 it was altered to display a red light, so as not to be confused with the newly erected lighthouse on

St Catherine's Point St Catherine's Point is the southernmost point on the Isle of Wight. It is close to the village of Niton and the point where the Back of the Wight changes to the Undercliff of Ventnor. On nearby St Catherine's Down is St Catherine's Oratory, ...

. Prior to its decommissioning, the light shone red to seaward but white from St Alban's Head to Hurst Point.

The current lighthouse

History

Before work could begin on the new tower a sizeable section of rock was cut away to provide a level base. Tunnels were also excavated within the rock behind the tower to provide rooms for storage. An oil burner, with four concentric wicks, provided the light source atop the new tower; it was set within a large (

first-order In mathematics and other formal sciences, first-order or first order most often means either: * "linear" (a polynomial of degree at most one), as in first-order approximation and other calculus uses, where it is contrasted with "polynomials of high ...

) fixed

catadioptric A catadioptric optical system is one where refraction and reflection are combined in an optical system, usually via lenses (dioptrics) and curved mirrors ( catoptrics). Catadioptric combinations are used in focusing systems such as searchlights, ...

optic Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultravio ...

provided by Henry-Lepaute of Paris. Keepers' accommodation was provided within the lighthouse, which was to be staffed by a team of three keepers (of whom, at any one time, two would be on duty in the tower and one on shore leave, by monthly rotation). The lighthouse was first lit on 1 January 1859. It initially displayed a fixed red light with a white

sector Sector may refer to: Places * Sector, West Virginia, U.S. Geometry * Circular sector, the portion of a disc enclosed by two radii and a circular arc * Hyperbolic sector, a region enclosed by two radii and a hyperbolic arc * Spherical sector, a p ...

indicating a clear approach running south of Durlestone Head and past a pair of sandbanks: South-west Shingles and Dolphin Bank. Later a narrow white sector marked the approach from the north-east past Warden Ledge; By 1884 a further (green) sector had been added and the light made

occulting An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden from the observer by another object that passes between them. The term is often used in astronomy, but can also refer to any situation in which an object in the foreground blocks ...

. The tower itself had initially been left as plain granite 'not coated nor coloured', but in 1886, so as to make it stand out more prominently against the cliffs during the day, it was painted with a broad black stripe around the middle; the metalwork of the lantern was also painted black, and dark curtains were hung within the glass when the lamp was not in use. In 1922, a more powerful incandescent paraffin vapour burner was installed, which increased the intensity of the light from 35,000 to 500,000 candlepower. During the Second World War, the lantern, lens and lamp were badly damaged in a German

aerial attack An airstrike, air strike or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighters, heavy bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters and drones. The offic ...

. After the war the lighthouse was repaired: in 1946, a new electric light was installed (powered by diesel generators providing 100 volt

direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or eve ...

); then, in 1948, a new,

second-order Second-order may refer to: Mathematics * Second order approximation, an approximation that includes quadratic terms * Second-order arithmetic, an axiomatization allowing quantification of sets of numbers * Second-order differential equation, a di ...

fixed catadioptric optic was made for the lighthouse by Chance Brothers, to replace the one damaged in the war. The Needles Lighthouse

Before automation, the lighthouse was staffed by a three-man crew operating a 24-hour watch, serving one month on / one month off, living in rudimentary conditions in three levels below the light. In 1987 a helipad was added to the top of the lighthouse. By the early 1990s the Needles was the last Trinity House lighthouse to be powered by 100 V DC electricity from its own generators. Before it could become fully automated, a submarine power cable had to be laid, bringing 240 V mains electricity to the lighthouse from the island. By the time the last keepers left on 8 December 1994 the Needles was one of the last three remaining manned rock lighthouses in England and Wales.

Fog signalling apparatus

Initially the lighthouse had been provided with a 3 cwt bell, hung beneath the gallery, to serve as a

fog signal A foghorn or fog signal is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines, or boats of the presence of other vessels, in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport. W ...

. The bell was struck once every 7.5 seconds; it was sounded by a clockwork mechanism, but using it was 'an arduous piece of work, for the driving weights are very heavy and need to be frequently wound up'. In 1906, a

reed Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * ...

fog signal was installed, together with a pair of oil engines in the basement of the tower to provide compressed air; it sounded from three

acoustic horn An acoustic horn or waveguide is a tapered sound guide designed to provide an acoustic impedance match between a sound source and free air. This has the effect of maximizing the efficiency with which sound waves from the particular source are tran ...

s which protruded through the roof of the lantern, giving one long blast every fifteen seconds. In 1946, as part of the electrification of the light, Gardner diesel-driven generators replaced the oil engines; these also powered compressors for the fog horn, which were installed along with a set of air tanks just below the lantern room. By 1964, the reeds had been replaced with two sets of 'supertyfon'

air horn An air horn is a pneumatic device designed to create an extremely loud noise for signaling purposes. It usually consists of a source which produces compressed air, which passes into a horn through a reed or diaphragm. The stream of air cause ...

s, mounted on the parapet surrounding the lantern, which sounded twice every 30 seconds. In 1994 these were in turn replaced by electric emitters as part of the automation process.

Present day

Today the main lamp is a 1500W bulb; the fixed optic with its coloured sectors remains in use as of 2019.Needles Lighthouse
Trinity House. Retrieved 1 May 2019 Due to the condition of the chalk strata on which the lighthouse was built, in April 2010 a £500,000 underpinning project was announced, designed to stop the lighthouse falling into the sea. Over a 12-week period from early June, civil marine contractors Nuttall John Martin excavated a trench around the base of the lighthouse, to install a ring of stabilising posts, reinforced with concrete.

References

External links

Trinity House

Needles Lighthouse Solar Powered Web Camera

Photo 1Photo 2
an
Photo 3
showing the pre-war optic, vapour burner and occulting mechanism in 1938.
Photo
showing the pre-war oil engines/compressors for the fog signal.
Photo, 1938, showing the reed fog horns.

of the tower, 1970, showing the 'supertyfon' horns.
{{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1859 Buildings and structures on the Isle of Wight Grade II listed buildings on the Isle of Wight Grade II listed lighthouses Lighthouses in England Lighthouses of the English Channel Trinity House