Eddystone Lighthouse

lighthouse, Eddystone Rocks, English Channel, United Kingdom

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Article History

Eddystone Lighthouse, lighthouse, celebrated in folk ballads and seamen’s lore, standing on the Eddystone Rocks, 14 miles off Plymouth, England, in the English Channel. The first lighthouse (1696–99), built of timber, was swept away with its designer, Henry Winstanley, by the great storm of 1703. The second, of oak and iron, designed by John Rudyerd (1708), was destroyed by fire in 1755. John Smeaton built (1756–59) the third Eddystone Lighthouse entirely of interlocking stone, on a plan that revolutionized the construction of such towers. It stood until it was replaced in 1882 by the present structure, which rises 133 feet (40 metres) above the water and was designed by Sir James N. Douglass.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.