Portishead Point Lighthouse
![]() Portishead Point Lighthouse also known as Battery Point Lighthouse | |
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Location | Portishead Somerset England |
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Coordinates | 51°29′41″N 2°46′25″W / 51.494626°N 2.773586°WCoordinates: 51°29′41″N 2°46′25″W / 51.494626°N 2.773586°W |
Tower | |
Constructed | 1931 |
Foundation | concrete base |
Construction | metal skeletal tower |
Height | 9 metres (30 ft) |
Shape | square pyramidal tower enclosed with balcony and light |
Markings | black tower, white basement |
Operator | Bristol Port Company[1] |
Light | |
Focal height | 9 metres (30 ft) |
Lens | 4th-order dioptric[2] |
Range | 16 nautical miles (30 km; 18 mi) |
Characteristic | Q (3) W 10s. |
Portishead Point Lighthouse, which is more commonly known as Battery Point Lighthouse, in Portishead, Somerset, England was built in 1931.
History[]
The 9-metre-high (30 ft) lighthouse was built at Battery Point by the Chance Brothers of Smethwick. 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.[2] The two tonne bell was cast by Gillett & Johnston of Croydon in 1938,[4] and installed the following year.[2] 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.[5] It is installed in Wyndham Way close to the High Street.[6]
The lighthouse is maintained by the Bristol Port Company.[7] The light was refurbished in 2012.[8]
Gallery[]
Close-up of the lighthouse.
Irene sailing past Portishead Point.
The bell, displayed on Wyndham Way.
The lighthouse
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Western England". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
- ^ a b c Cooper, F. W. (1979). Twenty Years in Lighthouses (PDF). United States Lighthouse Society. pp. 100–101. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
- ^ "Portishead Point Lighthouse". Worldwide lighthouses. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
- ^ "Battery Point Lighthouse" (PDF). Portishead and North Weston Town Council Newsletter. September 2010. Archived from the original on 8 June 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
- ^ "Old lighthouse bell hasn't tolled yet for town". This is Bristol. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
- ^ Fowler, Tracey (17 April 2012). "Lighthouse bell to return home". Weston, Worle and Somerset Mercury. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
- ^ "Portishead Point A5484 – Bristol Channel, UK". The Lighthouse Duo. Archived from the original on 9 September 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
- ^ "Notice to marners (No 32 of 2012) Portishead light refurbishment". The BRistol Port Company. Retrieved 23 September 2012.[permanent dead link]
External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Portishead Lighthouse. |
- Portishead Point Lighthouse in Lighthouse Digest's Lighthouse Explorer Database
- Lighthouses completed in 1931
- Towers completed in 1931
- Lighthouses in Somerset
- Buildings and structures in North Somerset
- Portishead, Somerset
- European lighthouse stubs