New Brighton Lighthouse

New Brighton Lighthouse

Vorlage:Infobox lighthouse New Brighton Lighthouse or Perch Rock Lighthouse, is a decommissioned lighthouse situated at the confluence of the River Mersey and Liverpool Bay on an outcrop off New Brighton known locally as Perch Rock. Together with its neighbour, the Napoleonic era Fort Perch Rock, it is one of the Wirral's best known landmarks.

The name comes from a Perch; a timber tripod supporting a lantern, first erected in 1683 as a crude beacon to allow shipping to avoid the rock. As the Port of Liverpool developed in the Nineteenth Century, the perch was deemed inadequate as it required constant maintenence and only produced a limited light. Construction of the present structure began in 1827 by Tomkinson & Company using blocks of interlocking Anglesey marble granite using dovetail joints and marble dowels. It was designed to use many of the same construction techniques used for John Smeaton's Eddystone Lighthouse 70 years earlier. Modelled on the trunk of an oak tree, it is a free standing white painted tower with a red iron lantern. It is 29 m (95 ft) tall. It was first lit in 1830 and was in continuous use until decommissioned in October 1973 having been superseded by modern navigational technology.

Although the lighting aparatus and fog bell have been removed, the lighthouse is very well preserved and retains many features lost on other disused lighthouses. It was restored and repainted in 2001 when an LED lightsource was installed which flashed the names of those lost at sea. including all the vicims of the sinking of the Titanic. At low tide, it is possible to walk to the base of the tower , but a 25-foot ladder would be needed to access the doorway. The lighthouse is privately owned and maintained by the Kingham family