Withernsea Lighthouse

The lighthouse is distanced nearly {{convert|1/4|mi|m|abbr=off|disp=or}} from the sea front. At the time it was built, there was nothing between it and the sea but sand dunes, and fear of coastal erosion led to it being positioned well back. The lantern atop the tower and the Fresnel lens optic within it both came 'second-hand' from the old North Lighthouse at High Whitby,{{cite book |title=Mercantile Marine Fund: Minutes of Evidence Taken Before the Committee of Inquiry appointed by the President of the Board of Trade |date=1896 |publisher=HMSO |location=London |page=281}} which had been decommissioned shortly before the building work at Withernsea began.

Initially, the light was provided by an eight-wick paraffin lamp, which was set within the fixed first-order catadioptric optic (which had been designed and manufactured by Chance Brothers in 1858). It was an occulting light, the lamp being eclipsed three times in quick succession every minute;[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/26487/page/1091 London Gazette, Issue 26487, Page 1091, 20 February 1894.] the occulting mechanism was clockwork. A petroleum vapour lamp was introduced in the early 20th century;{{cite book |last1=Miles |first1=George T. J. |last2=Richardson |first2=William |title=A History of Withernsea |date=1911 |publisher=A. Brown & Sons |location=Hull |page=38}} the triple-occulting arrangement remained in place until 1936.{{cite book |last1=Talbot-Booth |first1=E. C. |title=A Cruising Companion: Ships and the Sea |date=1936 |publisher=D. Appleton-Century Company |location=New York & London |page=65}}

In 1936 the light was electrified: it was given a 100 volt, 1500 watt bulb set within an eight-sided revolving third order Fresnel lens array, which displayed a white flash every three seconds with a range of {{convert|17|nmi|abbr=}}.{{cite web |title=About The Lighthouse |url=https://www.withernsealighthouse.co.uk/about-the-lighthouse/ |website=Withernsea Lighthouse Museum |access-date=11 September 2019 |archive-date=25 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425013828/http://www.withernsealighthouse.co.uk/about-the-lighthouse/ |url-status=dead }} Withernsea was the first lighthouse in the North of England to be converted from oil to electricity. It ran off mains electricity, but if the main lamp failed an automatic lamp changer brought a battery-powered lamp into action.{{cite journal |title=News in Brief: Electric Lighthouse |journal=The Electrical Journal |date=24 January 1936 |volume=116 |page=99}} This arrangement, provided by the Chloride Electrical Storage Company, was said to be 'the first electrical emergency lighting system to be adopted by Trinity House for a lighthouse'.{{cite journal |title=News in Brief: Lighthouse Emergency Lighting |journal=The Electrician |date=7 February 1936 |volume=116 |page=189}} A similar system was installed at Lowestoft two years later, and subsequently it was widely adopted across the service.

The lens weighed two tons and floated in a mercury bath; it was turned by clockwork. The lighting system, lens and clockwork mechanism remained in use into the 1970s.{{cite web |title=Withernsea (photographed in 1974) |url=http://www.england.pharology.eu/Withernsea.html |website=Lighthouses of England |access-date=11 September 2019 |archive-date=18 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160518000125/http://england.pharology.eu/Withernsea.html |url-status=dead }} Before decommissioning in 1976, the lighthouse was operated as a 'man-and-wife station', run by a couple who were accommodated in the adjacent cottage.{{cite book |last1=Jackson |first1=Derrick |title=Lighthouses of England and Wales |date=1975 |publisher=David & Charles |location=Newton Abbott, Devon |page=105}}

The base of the lighthouse features RNLI and HM Coastguard exhibits, with models and old photographs. These record the history of ship-wrecks in the area and detail the Withernsea lifeboats and crews who saved 87 lives between 1862 and 1913. It also depicts the history of the nearby Spurn lifeboats.

The local history room has Victorian and Edwardian photos of the town including the pier and railway. There is a Kay Kendall memorial to the 1950s film star, who was born in the town.

The lighthouse has antennae attached used to provide local mobile phone coverage.[https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/hull-east-yorkshire-news/withernsea-suffering-phone-signal-woes-5401953 Withernsea suffering phone signal woes during lighthouse repainting] Hull Live, 12 May 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2023.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-67096437 Withernsea businesses complain of lost trade over phone mast work] BBC News, 13 October 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2023.

Views from the lamp room in the Withernsea Lighthouse are available to visitors after climbing the 144 steps. There is no lamp, as this was removed after closure and sent to St Mary's Lighthouse in Tyne and Wear where it can still be seen to this day.{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=Robin|title=Lighthouses of the North East Coast|date=2014|publisher=Halsgrove|location=Wellington, Somerset}}

The lighthouse and adjoining lighthouse keepers' houses are Grade II listed buildings.{{NHLE|num=1083470|desc=Withernsea Lighthouse and adjoining pair of lighthouse keepers cottages|access-date=25 June 2014}}

{{gallery

|Image:Withernsea Lighthouse - geograph.org.uk - 1743256.jpg|As seen from the street

|Image:Withernsea Lighthouse - geograph.org.uk - 1257899.jpg|Garden view of the lighthouse and keepers' cottage

|Image:Steps inside the lighthouse - geograph.org.uk - 538841.jpg|Steps inside the lighthouse

|Image:Withernsea Lighthouse - geograph.org.uk - 1257911.jpg|The view from the top

|Image:Lighthouse Plaque, Withernsea - geograph.org.uk - 713875.jpg|Trinity House plaque on the tower

|Image:Whitley Bay, the light in St. Mary’s lighthouse - geograph.org.uk - 2556351.jpg|The old Withernsea optic (now in St Mary's lighthouse, Whitley Bay)

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• List of lighthouses in England

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{{Reflist}}

{{commons category|Withernsea Lighthouse}}

• [http://www.withernsealighthouse.co.uk/ Withernsea Lighthouse]
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/humber/content/articles/2006/05/23/with_lighthouse_feature.shtml BBC Humber article by Dale Baxter]
• {{NHLE |num=1083470}}

{{Lighthouses in England}}

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Category:Lighthouses completed in 1894

Category:Lighthouses in the East Riding of Yorkshire

Category:Grade II listed buildings in the East Riding of Yorkshire

Category:Grade II listed lighthouses

Category:Holderness

Category:Withernsea

Category:Lighthouse museums in England

Category:Museums in the East Riding of Yorkshire