Bidston Lighthouse
Bidston Lighthouse
Patrick Tubby
Chance Brothers Lighthouse
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Date of lens manufacture
1873
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Date of lighthouse construction
1873
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Country
United Kingdom
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Commissioning body
Mersey Docks and Harbour Board
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Order of lens
1st order
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Fixed or revolving lens
Fixed
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Active/Inactive
Inactive
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Describe the character of light
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Describe the lighthouses daymarks
21 m (69 ft) round cylindrical sandstone tower with lantern and gallery attached to 1-story stone keeper's house
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Which aspects of the lighthouse (other than the lens) were manufactured by Chance brothers
In addition to the first order dioptric lens, there were also vertical condensing prisms manufactured by Chance Brothers.
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Describe the history of the lighthouse
Bidston Lighthouse was built by Mersey Docks and Harbour Board in 1873, designed by George Fosbury Lyster.
It was built on the site of an earlier lighthouse built in 1771 by the then Liverpool Docks Master William Hutchinson, and like its successor, being 2 miles inland, was noted for being the furthest inland from the body of water on which it shone.
It served as Liverpool's principal lighthouse between 1873 and 1913, then continued as an electrical telegraph until 1914. The telegraph was operated from a dedicated signals room beneath the lamp room.
In 1909 the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board increased the strength of Bidston Lighthouse's light from 4500 to 12000 candle power.
Bidston's light was extinguished at sunrise on 9th October 1913 and its lighting apparatus was moved to the North Wall Lighthouse, also operated by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. The Marine Committee of the same body then sold the lens and other lighting apparatus in 1927, however there is no record remaining of to whom and how much was raised.
Biston Lighthouse is now in private ownership and occasionally open to visitors. It is Grade II listed.
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Current management body/ ports authority
Bidston Lighthouse C.I.C
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Historical preservation societies/manager/operator
Dr Stephen Pickles
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Is the site vulnerable to coastal erosion?
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Have you experienced any affects of climate change on the lighthouse?
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Observations on the condition of the lighthouse?
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Is the site open/closed to the public
Open
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Is the tower open/closed to the public
Closed
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Latitude and Longitude
53.40145° -3.07436°
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On-site bookable accommodation available
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Associated web addresses
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Other details
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Which resources did you use to research this lighthouses?
Chance Lighthouses (1856-1917) (61 years), David Encill's list 1856-316
Former Chance Lens Since Replaced/Removed
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Date of decommissioning or removal of Chance lens
1913
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Which lens(es) replaced the Chance lens ?
Lens was not replaced as Lighthouse was decommissioned.
Unde?