Needles Lighthouse

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Lighthouse on the Isle of Wight, UK

title: "Needles Lighthouse" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["lighthouses-completed-in-1859", "buildings-and-structures-on-the-isle-of-wight", "grade-ii-listed-buildings-on-the-isle-of-wight", "grade-ii-listed-lighthouses", "lighthouses-in-england", "lighthouses-of-the-english-channel", "trinity-house"] description: "Lighthouse on the Isle of Wight, UK" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Needles_Lighthouse" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Lighthouse on the Isle of Wight, UK ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox lighthouse"]

FieldValue
nameNeedles Lighthouse
imageThe Needles, Isle of Wight, England-2Oct2011.jpg
captionAerial view of Needles Lighthouse
locationAlum Bay
Isle of Wight
England
coordinates
yearbuilt1786 (first)
yearlit1859 (current)
automated1994
constructiongranite tower
shapecylindrical tower with lantern and helipad above lantern
markingtower with red and white bands
height31 m
focalheight24 m
lens2nd order 700mm fixed lens
intensitywhite: 12,300 candela
red (intensified): 3,950 candela
red: 1,800 candela
green 2,860 candela
rangewhite: 16 nmi
red and green: 11 nmi
characteristicOc (2) WRG 20s.
fogsignaltwo blasts every 30s.
managingagentTrinity House
::

| name = Needles Lighthouse | image = The Needles, Isle of Wight, England-2Oct2011.jpg | caption = Aerial view of Needles Lighthouse | location = Alum Bay Isle of Wight England | coordinates = | yearbuilt = 1786 (first) | yearlit = 1859 (current) | automated = 1994 | yeardeactivated = | foundation = | construction = granite tower | shape = cylindrical tower with lantern and helipad above lantern | marking = tower with red and white bands | height = 31 m | focalheight = 24 m | lens = 2nd order 700mm fixed lens | intensity = white: 12,300 candela red (intensified): 3,950 candela red: 1,800 candela green 2,860 candela | range = white: 16 nmi red and green: 11 nmi | characteristic = Oc (2) WRG 20s. | fogsignal = two blasts every 30s. | racon = | managingagent = Trinity House

The Needles Lighthouse is an active 19th century lighthouse on the outermost of the chalk rocks at The Needles on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom, near sea level. Designed by James Walker, for Trinity House at a cost of £20,000, it was completed in 1859 from granite blocks. It stands 33.25 m high and is a circular tower with straight sides. It replaced an earlier light tower on top of a cliff overhanging Scratchell's Bay, which was first lit on 29 September 1786.

The first lighthouse

In 1781 a group of merchants and ship owners petitioned Trinity House for navigation lights to be provided around the western approaches to the Solent. The response was positive, but it was not until 1785 that construction began, on three new lighthouses: one on the clifftop above the Needles, one on Hurst Point and one on St Catherine's Down (which was left unfinished and never lit); all three were designed by Richard Jupp.

From September the following year the Needles light was operational. It was described as 'a low truncated cone, situated on the highest point of the lofty cliffs [...], and near the edge of the cliff, forming the western extremity of the island'; however, its height of 496 ft above sea level meant it was often obscured by fog and sea mists, a problem that eventually led to its replacement some 70 years later.{{cite web |url=http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/interactive/gallery/needles.html |title=Needles Lighthouse |publisher=Trinity House |date=n.d. |access-date=25 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100502065819/http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/interactive/gallery/needles.html |archive-date=2 May 2010 |url-status=dead

The current lighthouse

History

Before work could begin on the new tower, a sizeable section of rock was cut away to provide a level base. Tunnels were also excavated within the rock behind the tower to provide rooms for storage. An oil burner, with four concentric wicks, provided the light source atop the new tower; it was set within a large (first-order) fixed catadioptric optic provided by Henry-Lepaute of Paris. Keepers' accommodation was provided within the lighthouse, which was to be staffed by a team of three keepers (of whom, at any one time, two would be on duty in the tower and one on shore leave, by monthly rotation).

The lighthouse was first lit on 1 January 1859. It initially displayed a fixed red light with a white sector indicating a clear approach running south of Durlestone Head and past a pair of sandbanks: South-west Shingles and Dolphin Bank. Later a narrow white sector marked the approach from the north-east past Warden Ledge; By 1884 a further (green) sector had been added and the light made occulting.

The tower itself had initially been left as plain granite 'not coated nor coloured', but in 1886, so as to make it stand out more prominently against the cliffs during the day, it was painted with a broad black stripe around the middle; the metalwork of the lantern was also painted black, and dark curtains were hung within the glass when the lamp was not in use.

In 1922, a more powerful incandescent paraffin vapour burner was installed, which increased the intensity of the light from 35,000 to 500,000 candlepower.

During the Second World War, the lantern, lens and lamp were badly damaged in a German aerial attack. After the war the lighthouse was repaired: in 1946, a new electric light was installed (powered by diesel generators providing 100 volt direct current); then, in 1948, a new, second-order fixed catadioptric optic was made for the lighthouse by Chance Brothers, to replace the one damaged in the war.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/The_Needles_Lighthouse.Isle_of_Wight..-_panoramio.jpg" caption="The lighthouse with helipad."] ::

Before automation, the lighthouse was staffed by a three-man crew operating a 24-hour watch, serving one month on / one month off, living in rudimentary conditions in three levels below the light.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/last-one-out-leave-the-light-on-the-needles-lighthouse-is-to-lose-its-keepers-as-manning-is-phased-out-around-britain-helen-nowicka-reports-1461222.html |title=Last one out, leave the light on: The Needles lighthouse is to lose its keepers as manning is phased out around Britain. |work=The Independent |date=15 August 1993 |access-date=25 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107202411/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/last-one-out-leave-the-light-on-the-needles-lighthouse-is-to-lose-its-keepers-as-manning-is-phased-out-around-britain-helen-nowicka-reports-1461222.html |archive-date=7 November 2012 |url-status=live | location=London | first=Helen | last=Nowicka

Fog signalling apparatus

Initially the lighthouse had been provided with a 3 cwt bell, hung beneath the gallery, to serve as a fog signal. The bell was struck once every 7.5 seconds; it was sounded by a clockwork mechanism, but using it was 'an arduous piece of work, for the driving weights are very heavy and need to be frequently wound up'.

In 1906, a reed fog signal was installed, together with a pair of oil engines in the basement of the tower to provide compressed air; it sounded from three acoustic horns which protruded through the roof of the lantern, giving one long blast every fifteen seconds. In 1946, as part of the electrification of the light, Gardner diesel-driven generators replaced the oil engines; these also powered compressors for the fog horn, which were installed along with a set of air tanks just below the lantern room.

By 1964, the reeds had been replaced with two sets of 'supertyfon' air horns, mounted on the parapet surrounding the lantern, which sounded twice every 30 seconds. In 1994, these were in turn replaced by electric emitters as part of the automation process.

Present day

Today the main lamp is a 1500W bulb; the fixed optic with its coloured sectors remains in use as of 2019. Due to the condition of the chalk strata on which the lighthouse was built, in April 2010 a £500,000 underpinning project was announced, designed to stop the lighthouse falling into the sea.{{cite news |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/04/30/needle-injection-115875-22222365/ |title=Rescue to save Needles lighthouse landmark |publisher=The Mirror |date=30 April 2010 |access-date=25 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111120125952/http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/04/30/needle-injection-115875-22222365/ |url-status=live |archive-date=20 November 2011 |url=http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/news/work-to-start-on-crumbling-lighthouse-32552.aspx |title=Work to start on crumbling lighthouse |publisher=Isle of Wight County Press |date=28 April 2010 |access-date=25 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100501151433/http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/news/work-to-start-on-crumbling-lighthouse-32552.aspx |url-status=live |archive-date=1 May 2010

References

References

  1. {{Cite rowlett. engs
  2. [https://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouses-and-lightvessels/needles-lighthouse Needles Lighthouse] Trinity House. Retrieved 3 May 2016
  3. (1844). "Handbook to the Isle of Wight". John Mitchell.
  4. "Lighthouse management : the report of the Royal Commissioners on Lights, Buoys, and Beacons, 1861, examined and refuted Vol. 2".
  5. [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/19821/page/243 London Gazette, Issue 19821, Page 243, 7 February 1840]
  6. (1859). "The Bristol Channel Pilot: from The Downs to Bristol". Charles Wilson.
  7. (1878). "The English Channel Pilot". Charles Wilson.
  8. (1884). "Our Seamarks: a plain account of the Lighthouses, Lightships, Beacons, Buoys, and Fog-signals maintained on our Coasts.". Longmans, Green & co..
  9. [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/25564/page/1035 London Gazette, Issue 25564, Page 1035, 2 March 1886]
  10. (9 September 1922). "Needles Light To Be Made More Powerful". The Nautical Gazette.
  11. (March 1948). "By Chance". Magazine of the Future.
  12. (1900). "The Channel Pilot, Part 1". Hydrographic Department.
  13. (January 1902). "Lighthouse Life". The London Magazine.
  14. (2001). "Lost Sounds: The Story of Coast Fog Signals". Whittles.
  15. (1920). "British Islands Pilot, volume I". Government Printing Office.
  16. [[Commons:Admiralty Chart No 2615 Portland to Christchurch, Published 1954.jpg. Admiralty Chart, corrected up to 1964.]]
  17. "St Catherine's Point". Wight Life.
  18. [https://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouses-and-lightvessels/needles-lighthouse Needles Lighthouse] Trinity House. Retrieved 1 May 2019
  19. (3 January 2023). "The Needles Lighthouse to undergo major upgrades in 21st Century modernisation project". On The Wight.
  20. "15/2023 Needles Lighthouse (Trinity House Notice to Mariners, 03/05/2023)".

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lighthouses-completed-in-1859buildings-and-structures-on-the-isle-of-wightgrade-ii-listed-buildings-on-the-isle-of-wightgrade-ii-listed-lighthouseslighthouses-in-englandlighthouses-of-the-english-channeltrinity-house