Longstone Lighthouse
Longstone Lighthouse is an active 19th century lighthouse on Longstone Rock in the outer group of the Farne Islands off the Northumberland Coast, England. Completed in 1826, it was originally called the Outer Farne Lighthouse, and complemented the earlier Inner Farne Lighthouse. The lighthouse is best known for the 1838 wreck of the Forfarshire and the role of Grace Darling, the lighthouse keeper's daughter, in rescuing survivors.
History
Origins
The Farne Islands had a long history of needing a light to warn ships of the many surrounding hazards. In 1673 King Charles II had instructed the landowners to grant a licence to Sir John Clayton and George Blake to erect a lighthouse on Inner Farne as part of a proposed network of beacons along the Northumberland coast; however the scheme never came to fruition because the authorities were unable to persuade its potential beneficiaries to contribute to the maintenance of the light. A similar request was made in 1727, and in 1755 Captain John Blackett petitioned to establish a light on Staple Island ; but both requests were declined.Twenty-one years later, however, when Blackett again submitted a proposal, he finally gained permission: this time for a pair of coal-fired beacons, which he built at his own expense: one on Staple Island and the other on Inner Farne. These beacons were first lit in December 1778; however the Pinnacle Lighthouse was severely damaged in a storm just six years later. A replacement was built on the adjacent Brownsman Island in 1795.
Robert Darling had been employed as lighthouse keeper at Staple Island, and he likewise transferred to Brownsman Island in 1795; following Robert's death in 1815 his son William succeeded him as keeper.
In 1806, Trinity House surveyed the islands with a view to taking over the beacons and replacing them with new oil-fuelled lighthouses. By 1811 they had built three, all to a similar design: two on Inner Farne and one on Brownsman. The Brownsman Island Lighthouse, however, proved to be poorly-located for its task and over the following years many ships foundered on the rocks and islands further out to sea. The loss of a succession of ships there in 1823 and 1824 prompted Trinity House to act, and they swiftly moved to construct a new lighthouse on one of the furthest outlying islands: Longstone.
The current lighthouse
Longstone Lighthouse was designed and built by Joseph Nelson. Construction was relatively swift, and the new Longstone Lighthouse was first lit on 15 February 1826. The total cost was £4,771. The tower was painted red and displayed, like its predecessor, a revolving light 'showing the full face of a reflector every 30 seconds'; it was equipped with a four-sided rotating array of twelve Argand lamps, each mounted within a parabolic reflector.William and Grace Darling
At the same time, in 1826, William Darling moved with his family from the old lighthouse on Brownsman Island to serve as lighthouse keeper at Longstone. On 7 September 1838 his daughter Grace spotted the paddlesteamer Forfarshire shipwrecked on a nearby rocky island. Grace Darling gained great renown when news of her part in the subsequent rescue attempt became known to the public; she and her father were both later awarded the silver medal for bravery by the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck.Improvements
In 1873 the lamp at Longstone was reconfigured and improved with the addition of a new optic by Chance Brothers of Smethwick, made up from a number of Fresnel lens panels, which were used to increase the transmission of light from the lamp The new optic maintained the characteristic of a white flash every thirty seconds.Further improvements around this time included the introduction of a fog siren in November 1876, powered by a caloric engine, sounding two blasts every two minutes. Around about 1890 a more powerful siren apparatus was installed, which sounded through a pair of larger vertical trumpets, and compressed air was produced using Blackstone & Co semi-diesel engines.
A horizontal band of white was added to the red-painted tower in 1895.