La Corbiere Lighthouse
Jersey
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Featured Location Guide |
Completed in 1874, Corbière Lighthouse was
the first such structure in the British Isles to be built entirely from
concrete, rather than traditional stone, blockwork. Sir John Coode, designed
the lighthouse, and he was assisted by an engineer, Imre Bell, who turned
the plans into the structure we see today.
It is situated on a rock which is a tidal
island and in the 130 years it has been standing, with the worst winter
gales throwing spray high over the lantern and the rock, the light itself
seems never to have been seriously threatened by the power of the sea.
Aerial Photo
Marinas.com
 (more images available)
The lighthouse is perched on a rock just off the south west tip of
Jersey. Originally, the lantern was fired by
paraffin and required the constant attention of keepers who lived in the
tower. Now it is powered by electricity and, since the late 1970s, has
required no permanent staff on site. It has a powerful foghorn at the foot
of the tower.
It is accessed via a concrete causeway, at
low tide, which links the light’s rock with the coast at Corbière, this
means that it is easy enough to see the structure in close-up at low tide.
A klaxon warns the unwary that it is time
to make tracks after the tide has turned, but the area is potentially very
dangerous. If the light itself has survived without major incident, the same
cannot be said of the keepers. In one such incident on 28 May 1946, one of
them, Peter Edwin Larbalestier, was drowned while trying to rescue a
holidaymaker who had been cut off by the rising water.
Lighthouse information Grid
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Name: |
La Corbiere Lighthouse, Jersey |
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Current status: |
Currently in use |
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Geographic Position: |
49°
10'8" N - 002° 14' 9" W |
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Grid Reference: |
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Ceremonial County: |
Jersey
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Appearance: |
concrete tower painted white with lantern and gallery |
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Map
Link: |
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Aerial photo: |
Marinas
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Other photos: |
photo
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Originally built: |
1874 |
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Current lighthouse built: |
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Height of Tower: |
62
feet |
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Height of light above mean sea level: |
135
feet |
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Character of light: |
white or red light, depending on direction, 5 s on, 5 s off. |
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Character of fog signal: |
4
blasts, long-short-long-short, every 60 s |
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Range of light: |
18
miles |
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Owned / run by: |
Jersey Harbours
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Getting there: |
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Access: |
Via
a causeway at low tide, but visitors must take care not to be stranded when
the tide returns. Site open, tower closed. |
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Website: |
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Other Useful Websites: |
Wikipedia
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| Routes: |
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Other Relevant pages: |
For more articles, lists and other information
see the
Lighthouses Section
Featured list of
Lighthouses - Channel
Islands
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Notes: |
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