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 lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

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 are 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 weste ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, near sea level. Designed by James Walker, for Trinity House at a cost of £20,000, it was completed in 1859 from granite blocks. It 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, which was first lit on 29 September 1786.

The first lighthouse

In 1781 a group of merchants and ship owners petitioned Trinity House for navigation lights to be provided around the western approaches to the Solent. 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. 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 frequen ...

s with parabolic reflectors; 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 Orator ...

. 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) fixed catadioptric optic 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 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. 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. 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 electric current, flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor (material), conductor such as a wire, but can also flow throug ...

); 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 d ...

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 A helipad is the landing area of a heliport, in use by helicopters, powered lift, and vertical lift aircraft to land on surface. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fa ...

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 A submarine power cable is a transmission cable for carrying electric power below the surface of the water.fog signal. 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 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 horns 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 cau ...

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. 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. Upgrade works took place in 2023, during which redundant equipment was removed; in May of that year the range of the light was reduced.

References

External links