Trinity House | Home
home
links
legal notices
contact us
SEARCH click to search

Longstone Lighthouse

place holder
Corporation
Aids to Navigation
Media Centre
Interactive
Careers
Shop
Commercial Activities
Events & Leisure

Gallery

Alderney
Anvil Point
Bamburgh
Bardsey
Beachy Head
Berry Head
B 1D Dowsing
Bishop Rock
Blacknore Point
Blacktail East and West
Bull Point
Caldey Island
Casquets
Coquet
Cromer
Crow Point
Dungeness
Eddystone
Farne
Flamborough
Flatholm
Godrevy
Guile Point East
Les Hanois
Hartland Point
Heugh Hill
Hilbre Island
Hurst Point
Lizard
Longships
Longstone
Lowestoft
Lundy North & South
Lynmouth Foreland
Maryport
Monkstone
Mumbles
Nab Tower
Nash Point
Needles
North Foreland
Orfordness
Pendeen
Penninis
Point Lynas
Portland Bill
Round Island
Royal Sovereign
Sark
The Skerries
Skokholm
Smalls
South Bishop
South Stack
St Ann's Head
St Anthony's
St Bees
St Catherine's
St Tudwal's
Start Point
Strumble Head
Southwold
Tater Du
Trevose Head
Trywn Du
Whitby
Wolf Rock

Virtual Tour

Education

Lighthouse Visitors Map

Gallery

Flamborough Lighthouse
Position 54░ 06'.97 N 00░ 04'.86 W

A lighthouse was first established at Flamborough by Sir John Clayton in 1669, but was never kindled. The name Flamborough was first thought to be derived from it being the place of the flame, but in the domesday book the word is spelt "Flaneberg", possibly from the Saxon "Flaen" meaning a dart, which the shape of the headland resembles.

The present lighthouse, designed by architect Samuel Wyatt, was built by John Matson of Bridlington in 1806 at a cost of ú8,000. It was first lit on 1st December of that year. The original lighting apparatus was designed by George Robinson and consisted of a rotating vertical shaft to which was fixed twenty one parabolic reflectors, seven on each of the three sides of the frame. Red glass covered reflectors on each side, giving for the first time in lighthouse characteristics two white flashes followed by one red flash. This was an innovation quickly adopted elsewhere. The lighthouse was oil-burning, with an equivalent candle power of 13,860.

The following description of Flamborough Lighthouse is taken from Joseph Cotton's "Memoir on the Origin and Incorporation of the Trinity House of Deptford Strond" written in 1818.

Alderney Lighthouse was automated in 1997 with the keepers leaving the lighthouse on 1 October. The lighthouse is now monitored and controlled from the Trinity House Operational Control Centre at Harwich in Essex.

The site of Flamborough-head was of all others the most calculated for a lighthouse, either for coasters or for vessels from the Baltic and North Sea, but it was not concurred in by the trade until lately, when its utility having been admitted, the present lighthouse was erected, and the light exhibited upon the principle of the Scilly light, but with coloured red glass in front of the burners, by which it is distinguished from Cromer.

The lighthouse has continued its role as a waypoint for deep sea vessels and coastal traffic as well as marking the headland for vessels heading for the ports of Scarborough and Bridlington.

In 1940 the Flamborough Lighthouse was electrified and further modifications took place in 1974. An electric fog signal was installed in 1975 replacing diaphone apparatus. In former times a rocket was discharged every 5 minutes in foggy weather reaching an altitude of 600 feet.

Flamborough Lighthouse was automated in early 1996, the keepers leaving on 8 May. The existing aids to navigation were retained with standard Trinity House equipment replacing the lampchanger and optic drive. The fog signal was refurbished and a standard fog detector fitted. The lighthouse is now controlled and monitored from the Trinity House Depot at Harwich.

Specifications

Established 1669
Height Of Tower 27 Metres
Height Of Light Above Mean High Water 65 Metres
Automation May 1996
Lamp 1 KW MBI
Optic 1st Order Catadioptric Fixed Lens
Character 4 White Flashes Every 15 Seconds
Intensity 650,000 Candela
Range Of Light 24 Sea Miles
Fog Signal Character 2 Blasts Every 90 Seconds
Flamborough Lighthouse
back | top
place holder place holder place holder place holder