Happisburgh Lighthouse, North Norfolk.
Happisburgh Lighthouse in Happisburgh on the North Norfolk coast is the only independently operated lighthouse in Great Britain. It is also the oldest working lighthouse in East Anglia. The building was constructed in 1790 as one of a pair of candle-powered lights ("High Lighthouse" and "Low Lighthouse"). In 1801 candle power gave way to oil lamps and reflectors. In 1863 the lantern stage (the top-most part of the tower) was replaced with the diagonally-framed glass structure seen today (which was a new innovation at the time) and four years later the reflectors were replaced in each lighthouse by a large (first-order) catadioptric lens designed by James Chance. In 1871 Happisburgh's lighthouses were used for a series of trials comparing a Douglass 4-wick oil light (displayed from the low lighthouse) with a Wigham 108-jet gas light (displayed from the high lighthouse) both using the same optics; the experiments (which tested rival claims made by the principal advocates of these forms of illumination, James Nicholas Douglass and John Richardson Wigham respectively) were not conclusive and further trials later took place at South Foreland. In order to provide a supply of coal gas for the lamp, a small gas works was established alongside the high lighthouse; the gas was manufactured using cannel coal and stored in a pair of gas holders situated behind the lighthouse. In 1872, the trial having concluded, it was decided to retain gas as the illuminant for the high lighthouse, and later the supply was extended to the low lighthouse which was provided with a similar burner. Beyond Happisburgh, however, Trinity House did not adopt gas as an illuminant for its lighthouses. The low light was decommissioned and demolished in 1883 before it could be lost due to coastal erosion; its lantern and lens were reused at Southwold lighthouse.
Size: 6000px × 3376px
Location: Lighthouse Ln, Happisburgh, Norwich NR12 0QA.
Photo credit: © Jon Williamson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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