Flamborough Head Lighthouse
Flamborough Lighthouse, Flamborough, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Photo taken by me on 30 December 2006
Keith D at English Wikipedia (CC-BY-SA-3.0-migrated)
Chance Brothers Lighthouse
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Date of lens manufacture
1872
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Date of lighthouse construction
1806
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Country
United Kingdom
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Commissioning body
Trinity House.
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Order of lens
1st order
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Fixed or revolving lens
Revolving
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Active/Inactive
Active
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Describe the character of light
Fl (4) W 15s
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Describe the lighthouses daymarks
Cylindrical tower with double balcony, lantern, cupola and weather vane painted white attached to a large two storey block.
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Which aspects of the lighthouse (other than the lens) were manufactured by Chance brothers
None known.
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Describe the history of the lighthouse
There was a brick built tower constructed in 1669 as the first lighthouse at the head. This still survives as a grade II listed monument. The present lighthouse was designed by Samuel Wyatt and constructed at a cost of £8000 being first lit on 1st December 1806. The light had a distictive characteristic of two white flashes followed by a red flash which was designed by optics specialist George Robinson who was chief inspector of lighthouses at Trinity House. This was the first use of colour as part of a light characteristic, the red being used to distinguish Flamborough Head from Cromer further down the coast.
In 1872 a new paraffin lamp was installed designed by James Douglass, Flamborough being the first light to use paraffin. Along with the new lamp a new first order dioptric lens was installed by Chance Brothers of Smethwick near Birmingham. The revolving optic was designed to maintain the light's characteristic of two white flashes followed by one red. The speed of revolution was changed from a flash every two minutes to a flash every 30 seconds. This was driven by a clockwork mechanism, the optic was described as a "circular frame of six faces composed of great glass prisms, the third and sixth faces having sheets of ruby glass before them to give the red effect to the light". The red flashing lenses were made more than double the width of the clear white flashing panels to compensate for the reduced intensity caused by the ruby filters. These panels were at the time the largest ever constructed.
In 1925 the lantern was made taller to accomodate a new 15 foot lens, a first order revolving catadioptric optic made up of four asymmetrical panels displaying four white flashes every 15 seconds.
The light was converted to electricity in 1940 and automated in 1996 the last keepers leaving on 8th May that year.
The building is grade II listed and the East Riding of Yorkshire Council operates tours of the lighthouse under licence from Trinity House.
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Current management body/ ports authority
Trinity House.
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Historical preservation societies/manager/operator
East Riding of Yorkshire Council.
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Is the site vulnerable to coastal erosion?
no -
Have you experienced any affects of climate change on the lighthouse?
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Observations on the condition of the lighthouse?
The lighthouse appears in good condition.
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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
Open
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Latitude and Longitude
54.11638° -0.08266°
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On-site bookable accommodation available
no -
Associated web addresses
trinityhouse.co.uk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamborough_Head_Lighthouse
https://www.ibiblio.org/lighthouse/enge.htm
tour enquiries to visitor.centre@trinityhouse.co.uk - opening times vary across the year.
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Other details
The Headlands Family restaurant, a cafe bar and a gift shop are available close by. Admiralty No. A2582
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Which resources did you use to research this lighthouses?
Online search. Chance Lighthouses (1856-1917) (61 years), David Encill's list 1856-95
Former Chance Lens Since Replaced/Removed
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Date of decommissioning or removal of Chance lens
Unconfirmed.
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Which lens(es) replaced the Chance lens ?
Unconfirmed.
Where?
