1865: Work Formally Begins on the Current Version of St Bees Lighthouse in England

May 10, 1865

A foundation stone was laid for the third and current version of St Bees Lighthouse in northwestern England. This ceremony marked the start of construction on this structure on the headland known as St Bees Head, which overlooks the Irish Sea. Those on hand for the ceremony included Henry Norris, an engineer who supervised the building of this lighthouse over the next couple of years.

The original lighthouse on St Bees Head was built by a local merchant named Thomas Lutwige and first went into service in 1718. This lighthouse remained in operation until 1822, when it was destroyed in a fire. A replacement lighthouse was subsequently built by engineer Joseph Nelson; this structure, measuring 27 feet (8.2 meters) in height, first went into service in 1823. The project to build a replacement of this lighthouse in the 1860s also included the construction of two new dwelling houses for the keeper assigned at that site.

The present-day St Bees Lighthouse was completed and first lit in 1867. This structure is 56 feet (17 meters) tall and, standing an average of 335 feet (102 meters) above sea level, it holds the record as the highest lighthouse in England. St Bees Lighthouse has been automated since 1987. (The above photo of this lighthouse was taken in 2003.)

Photo Credit: Humphrey Bolton (https://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/1712) – licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en

For more information on the current version of St Bees Lighthouse and its two predecessors, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Bees_Lighthouse