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The Twisting and Tragic Fate Of The First Offshore Lighthouse In History
It took humanity centuries to figure out this particular engineering
In the 21st century, we take a lot of technology for granted. Offshore lighthouses, including buoys and lightships, keep ships safe by ensuring they stack on track. This was not always the case. Before the age of diesel-powered machines and advanced engineering, lighthouses had to remain firmly on shore. This left many places as enduring hazards to passing ships. The oceans are filled with shallow rocks, poorly charted reefs, and old wrecks. Rocky shorelines are not the only thing that can crack a ship’s hull.
That is why, in 1696, a man by the name of Henry Winstanley began an audacious building project to construct a lighthouse on the Eddystone Rocks. The rocks lie 9 miles off the southern coast of Cornwall in England. For centuries, they posed a hazard to unaware mariners who would crash into them, stranding the sailors miles from dry land. Up until this point, no one had managed to successfully build a lighthouse so far offshore. But as Winstanley would learn, building such a structure was no easy feat. There was a reason why no one had managed to succeed up until this point in history.
