Portishead Point Lighthouse Explained

Portishead Point Lighthouse
Battery Point
Location:Portishead
Somerset
England
Coordinates:51.4946°N -2.7736°W
Yearbuilt:1931
Foundation:concrete base
Construction:metal skeletal tower
Shape:square pyramidal tower enclosed with balcony and light
Marking:black tower, white basement
Lens:4th-order dioptric
Characteristic:Q (3) W 10s.
Managingagent:Bristol Port Company[1]

Portishead Point Lighthouse, which is more commonly known as Battery Point Lighthouse, in Portishead, Somerset, England was built in 1931.

History

The 9adj=midNaNadj=mid lighthouse was built at Battery Point by the Chance Brothers of Smethwick. It was established in 1931 as an unwatched automatic light.[2] It consists of a black metal pyramid on a concrete base.[3]

Originally it had been intended to provide Portishead Point with a diaphone fog signal, but, in response to local unrest at the prospect, the decision was taken to commission a fog bell instead.[4] The two tonne bell was cast by Gillett & Johnston of Croydon in 1938,[5] and installed the following year. Due to structural concerns, the bell was removed in 1998: later, following public campaigning for restoration, the bell was acquired by Portishead Town Council and returned to the town in 2012.[6] It is installed in Wyndham Way, close to the High Street.[7]

The lighthouse is maintained by the Bristol Port Company.[8] The light was refurbished in 2012.[9]

See also

Notes and References

  1. 2016-04-28.
  2. Progress in Illuminating Engineering . The Illuminating Engineer (The Journal of Good Lighting) . December 1931 . 24 . 307.
  3. Web site: Portishead Point Lighthouse . Worldwide lighthouses . 23 September 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304042836/http://www.worldwidelighthouses.com/Lighthouses/English-Lighthouses/Privately-Owned/Portishead-Point . 4 March 2016 . live . dmy-all.
  4. Book: Cooper . F. W. . Twenty Years in Lighthouses . 1979 . United States Lighthouse Society . 100–101 . 13 March 2019.
  5. News: Battery Point Lighthouse . 23 September 2012 . PDF . Portishead and North Weston Town Council Newsletter . September 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150608031017/http://www.portishead.gov.uk/Document/Default.aspx?DocumentUid=50dfc2cc-bbee-4ef5-9af0-0b7806e1636c . 8 June 2015 . live.
  6. Web site: Old lighthouse bell hasn't tolled yet for town . https://archive.today/20130505075130/http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Old-lighthouse-bell-hasn-t-tolled-town/story-11285394-detail/story.html . dead . 5 May 2013 . This is Bristol . 23 September 2012 .
  7. News: Fowler . Tracey . Lighthouse bell to return home . 23 September 2012 . Weston, Worle and Somerset Mercury . 17 April 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303234437/http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/news/lighthouse_bell_to_return_home_1_1350848 . 3 March 2016 . dead .
  8. Web site: Portishead Point A5484 – Bristol Channel, UK . The Lighthouse Duo . 1 December 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100909080936/http://www.lighthouse-duo.net/lh1/Battery%20Point/Battery%20Point.html . 9 September 2010 . dead .
  9. Web site: Notice to marners (No 32 of 2012) Portishead light refurbishment . The BRistol Port Company . 23 September 2012.

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