Lowestoft lighthouse, by EW Cooke.

Lowestoft lighthouse.

Repro ID: PV6351

Description: In 1609 Trinity House, in response to petitions from shipowners and merchants who had lost cargoes and vessels on the sandbanks and shoals around the east coast, established a lighthouse at Lowestoft. The structure consisted of a high and low light. Both were powered by candles, which, when viewed in line from the sea, guided small ships into port along the (now disappeared) Stamford Channel. The house was rebuilt in 1676 with a coal-fired high light. In 1730, the lower lamp was converted to burn whale oil. In 1777 the coal fire was replaced by a circle of oil lamps and a complex reflector system, the 'Spangle light', which had 400 mirrors and a greatly improved range of 20 miles. In 1874 a new high light, still in existance today, was completed. The latter burned paraffin and was fitted out with new optics and a revolving lens.

Creator: Edward William Cooke

Date: October 1856

Credit line: National Maritime Museum, London