Visitors to the disused and redundant lighthouse at Spurn Point or Spurn Head, Humber estuary, East Yorkshire, UK.
The 1895 lighthouse is a round brick tower, 128 feet (39 m) high, painted black and white. It was designed by Thomas Matthews. The lantern contained a very large revolving hyper-radiant optic. Its white light had a range of 17 nautical miles (31 km; 20 mi) and displayed a flash once every 20 seconds. In addition there were separate sector lights, two of which marked particular shoals or sandbanks, while another indicated the main channel along the Humber. Initially oil-lit, the lighthouse was converted to electricity in 1941 to enable the light to be lit briefly (as and when requested by allied ships and convoys) and then extinguished.[24] Then, in 1957, the lighthouse was converted to acetylene gas operation. A new, smaller, gas-driven revolving optic was installed, which flashed once every fifteen seconds; and the subsidiary lights were provided with occulting mechanisms, also gas-driven. The new systems were automated; the keepers therefore moved out and their cottages were demolished. Due to improvements in navigation, the light was discontinued in 1985. The main optic was removed the following year; (the combined acetylene lamp and gas-powered optic were subsequently put on display, first in the Trinity House National Lighthouse Museum, then in the National Maritime Museum Cornwall). Since then, the lighthouse has remained empty. Restoration In 2013, however, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust was awarded a £470,500 grant to restore the lighthouse with a view to its being reopened as a visitor centre. This was scheduled to take place in 2015, with work starting in April 2015. The work was completed in March 2016, and opened to the public for the Easter weekend.
Size: 4928px × 3264px
Location: Spurn Point, East Yorkshire, UK
Photo credit: © Peter Conner / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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