.jpg) Lowestoft Lighthouse | |
 | |
| Location | Lowestoft, Suffolk |
|---|---|
| OS grid | TM5508894308 |
| Coordinates | 52°29′13.2″N 1°45′21.4″E / 52.487000°N 1.755944°E |
| Tower | |
| Constructed | 1609 (first) 1628 (second) 1676 (third) |
| Construction | Brick tower |
| Automated | 1975 |
| Height | 16 m (52 ft) |
| Shape | Cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern |
| Markings | White tower and lantern |
| Operator | Trinity House[1] |
| Heritage | Grade II listed building  |
| Light | |
| First lit | 1874 (current) |
| Focal height | 37 m (121 ft) |
| Lens | 4th order 250mm twin spectacle catadioptric |
| Intensity | 380,000 candela |
| Range | 23 nmi (43 km) |
| Characteristic | White rotating – flashing once every 15 seconds |
Lowestoft Lighthouse is a lighthouse operated by Trinity House located to the north of the centre of Lowestoft in the English county of Suffolk. It stands on the North Sea coast close to Ness Point, the most easterly point in the United Kingdom. It acts as a warning light for shipping passing along the east coast and is the most easterly lighthouse in the UK.
The original lighthouses at Lowestoft, which were established in 1609, were the first lights to be built by Trinity House.[2][3] They marked the southern approach to Yarmouth Roads which, in the seventeenth century, was a key roadstead and anchorage, in frequent use both by vessels engaged in the local herring trade and by colliers on the route from Newcastle to London.[4]
The current lighthouse was built in 1874 and stands 16 metres (52 ft) tall, 37 metres (121 ft) above sea level. The light, which has a range of 23 nautical miles (43 km; 26 mi), was automated in 1975.[5]
- ^ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Eastern England". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
- ^ History of the Corporation, Trinity House, 2014. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
- ^ Labrum EA (1994) 22. Lowestoft Lighthouse, in Civil Engineering Heritage: Eastern and central England, pp.132–133, Thomas Telford.
- ^ Naish, John (1985). Seamarks: Their History and Development. London: Stanford Maritime. p. 75.
- ^ Lowestoft, Trinity House. Retrieved 2016-08-31.