St. Catherine's Lighthouse
Preserving Heritage
The Historic Building Record of the lantern room at St Catherine’s Lighthouse on the Isle of Wight was carried out by ERMC Ltd on behalf of Trinity House. A desktop heritage analysis and on-site building survey were conducted.
The Lighthouse is situated on St Catherine’s Point, southwest of the nearest settlement of Niton and within a predominantly rural area at the southernmost tip of the Isle of Wight. As the General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar, Trinity House has responsibility to maintain the navigational infrastructure for maritime traffic throughout this area. Through their regular maintenance programme, Trinity House have identified the current operational apparatus of St Catherine’s Lighthouse as in need of modernisation.
These works proposed the removal of the existing lens, light pedestal, service stage railings and cleaning platform from within the Lantern Room and the subsequent installation of a new platform, railings and fixed LED light and pedestal into the same space. Due to the historic significance of the lighthouse, its contents and setting, additional information was required to provide justification for the changes proposed, and to mitigate any impact on the heritage value of the site.
History
St Catherine’s Lighthouse was constructed between 1838 and 1840 following the wreck of the cargo ship Clarendon at nearby Blackgang in 1836 and which resulted in the loss of all but three of the 28 passengers and crew. The third lighthouse to be constructed in the area, it followed the medieval St Catherine’s Oratory of 1323 and an unfinished structure dating to the late eighteenth century, both of which remain on the high ground to the north.
After a series of post-war upgrades, the fog signal was eventually terminated in 1987, and a decade later both the lighthouse and weather reporting station were de-manned and automated, the former now controlled remotely from Trinity House’s Planning Centre and the latter transmitting weather data directly to the Met Office.
Lighthouse illuminations
Recognised as one of the oldest lighthouse locations on
mainland Britain, in 1888 St Catherine’s became one of the first in the world to provide electrically powered illuminations. The structure’s lamp became known as one of the most powerful in the country, with the light from its 1904 upgrade visible (in optimum conditions) from Barfleur in Normandy 60 miles to the south.
At its decommissioning in the 1920s, the electrical arc lamp, providing 15 million candlepower, was one of the last in operation in the UK. The site was Grade II listed on 18th January 1967 and remains in operation with a visible range of 25 nautical miles, making it the third most powerful of all lights currently maintained by Trinity House.
