Happisburgh Lighthouse

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Happisburgh Lighthouse

Location: Happisburgh, Norfolk, England
Coordinates
WGS-84 (GPS)		 52°49.17′N, 01°32.32′E
Year first lit: 1791
Automated: 1929
Construction: Masonry
Tower shape: round
Height: 26 m (85 ft)
Elevation: 15 m
Current lens: Catadioptric Fixed Lens
Range: 14 nm (26 km)
Characteristic: White group flashing 3 times every 30 seconds

Happisburgh Lighthouse situated in the village of Happisburgh on the North Norfolk coast is the only independently operated lighthouse in Great Britain, and the oldest working light in East Anglia.

Built in 1790, originally one of a pair - the tower is 85ft tall and the lantern is 134ft above sea level [1]. The 'low light' which was discontinued in 1883 was 20ft lower and the pair formed leading lights marking safe passage around the southern end of the treacherous Haisborogh Sand 8 miles offshore.

Today the lighthouse is painted white with three red bands, and has a light characteristic of Fl(3)30s (3 white flashes, repeated every 30secs) at a height of 41 metres with a range of 14 miles.

[edit] Independence

In 1987 Happisburgh was one of 5 lighthouses declared redundant by Trinity House and deactivation was planned for June 1988. Villagers organised a petition to oppose the closure, and as a result the date was postponed.

Under the Merchant Shipping Act of 1894 Trinity House can only dispose of a working Lighthouse to an Established Lighthouse Authority. On 25th April 1990 the Happisburgh Lighthouse Act received the Royal Assent establishing the Happisburgh Lighthouse Trust as a Local Light Authority, and Happisburgh became the only independently run operational lighthouse in Great Britain.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Lighthouses of the World & Fog Signals" - Alexander Finlay, Richard Holmes Laurie, 1888
  • "Our Seamarks" - E. Price Edwards, Longmans Green & Co., 1884
  • "Trinity House from Within" - Capt. Thomas Golding CBE, private printing, 1929
  • "The Worlds Lighthouses Before 1820" - D. Alan Stevenson, Oxford University Press, 1959
  • "Lighthouses - Their Architecture, History and Archaeology" - Douglas B. Hague & Rosemary Christie, Gomer Press, 1975
  • "Lights of East Anglia" - Neville Long, Terence Dalton Ltd., 1983

[edit] External links


Coordinates: 52°49.17′N, 01°32.32′E

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