Bardsey Lighthouse

Bardsey Lighthouse stands on the southerly tip of Bardsey Island, off the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd, Wales, and guides vessels passing through St George's Channel and the Irish Sea. HistoryApplication for a light here was first made in 1816 by Lt. Thomas Evans R. N. , but several other applications made in 1820 finally resulted in the building of the tower by Trinity House in 1821 at a cost of £5, 470 12s 6d plus a further £2, 950 16s 7d for the lantern. Joseph Nelson was the engineer and builder, but the heavy weathered string-course near the base and the blocked and hooded directional-light window show the influence of Daniel Alexander, who succeeded Samuel Wyatt as consulting engineer to Trinity House, and under whom Nelson served. Joseph Nelson is associated with the design of at least fifteen lighthouses, mostly in the Bristol Channel. In 1987 the lighthouse was converted to automatic operation and up until 1995 was monitored from the Trinity House area control station at Holyhead. It is now monitored from the Trinity House depot at Harwich, with a local part-time attendant carrying out routine maintenance. ArchitectureThe lighthouse is built of ashlar limestone and is unplastered inside and out, but painted in red and white bands on the outside. The lighthouse tower is 30 m (98 ft) high and is unusual amongst Trinity House towers of this period in being square in plan (Coquet Lighthouse, Northumberland is also square). Unlike many other lighthouses, it retains its original gallery railings, which are of iron and bellied (i. e. curved out in width at their crowns) towards the top. Other examples include Salt Island Lighthouse, at Holyhead, designed by John Rennie in the same year. Fortunately, the present lantern, fitted in 1856, did not require the removal of the original railings.

Bardsey Lighthouse stands on the southerly tip of Bardsey Island, off the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd, Wales, and guides vessels passing through St George's Channel and the Irish Sea. HistoryApplication for a light here was first made in 1816 by Lt. Thomas Evans R. N. , but several other applications made in 1820 finally resulted in the building of the tower by Trinity House in 1821 at a cost of £5, 470 12s 6d plus a further £2, 950 16s 7d for the lantern. Joseph Nelson was the engineer and builder, but the heavy weathered string-course near the base and the blocked and hooded directional-light window show the influence of Daniel Alexander, who succeeded Samuel Wyatt as consulting engineer to Trinity House, and under whom Nelson served. Joseph Nelson is associated with the design of at least fifteen lighthouses, mostly in the Bristol Channel. In 1987 the lighthouse was converted to automatic operation and up until 1995 was monitored from the Trinity House area control station at Holyhead. It is now monitored from the Trinity House depot at Harwich, with a local part-time attendant carrying out routine maintenance. ArchitectureThe lighthouse is built of ashlar limestone and is unplastered inside and out, but painted in red and white bands on the outside. The lighthouse tower is 30 m (98 ft) high and is unusual amongst Trinity House towers of this period in being square in plan (Coquet Lighthouse, Northumberland is also square). Unlike many other lighthouses, it retains its original gallery railings, which are of iron and bellied (i. e. curved out in width at their crowns) towards the top. Other examples include Salt Island Lighthouse, at Holyhead, designed by John Rennie in the same year. Fortunately, the present lantern, fitted in 1856, did not require the removal of the original railings.