Old Higher Lighthouse
The Old Higher Lighthouse is a disused lighthouse on the west side of Portland at Branscombe Hill, overlooking Portland Bill. Working alongside the Old Lower Lighthouse from 1716, the higher lighthouse was rebuilt in 1869 and decommissioned in 1906. The lighthouse (including its four cottages and boundary walls) has been a Grade II listed building since September 1978.
History
Original construction and operation of lighthouse
For centuries, Portland's position in the English Channel, with its treacherous coastline, has made it a major shipping hazard. Both Chesil Beach and Portland Bill in particular have been the location of many shipwrecks. The narrow promontory of Portland Bill is notably dangerous because of its shallow reefs and ledges such as the Portland Ledge, the Shambles sandbank to the south-east, and the Portland Race - a tidal race caused by the clashing of tides, and further exacerbated by the reduced depths over the Portland Ledge. Prior to the construction of any lighthouse, beacons had been lit on Branscombe Hill, overlooking the Bill, since Roman times, while Portland's two windmills later acted as prominent landmarks to the north.
In 1669, Sir John Clayton was successful in obtaining a patent for the erection of a lighthouse with two lights at Portland Bill, despite the objections of Trinity House. However, as the patent specified that its upkeep would be dependent on voluntary donations from shipowners, Clayton was unable to secure an agreement and the scheme was abandoned. Towards the end of the 17th century, Captain William Holman of Weymouth began a petition for the erection of a lighthouse and in 1700 he submitted an application to have two lighthouses built. Despite support from shipowners and the Corporation of Weymouth, the application was rejected, with Corporation of Trinity House opposing the idea, believing that lights at the Bill would be "needless" considering the height of the land and the water being deep "to the very shore". Furthermore, the corporation argued that "shipowners could not bear the burden of their upkeep".
Regardless, local seafarers continued to petition for a lighthouse and managed to gain much public support, forcing Trinity House to later concede that a lighthouse at the Bill was necessary. The corporation submitted a patent in January 1716 which King George I granted on 26 May, by which time the corporation had already issued a 61-year lease to William Barrett, Francis Browne and Charles Langrishe at a price of £100 to build and maintain "one or more convenient lighthouses with good and visible lights to be kept continually there in the night season, so as ships might the better come to their ports without peril."
One lighthouse was built at the top of Branscombe Hill, while the other was placed a short distance to the south on lower land. Work had progressed far enough for the two lighthouses to shine out for the first time on 29 September 1716, with both producing their beams using coal inside glazed lanterns. Completion of keepers' accommodation and stores followed that November. The dues to be collected from all ships passing the Bill was set at a halfpenny per ton for English ships and a penny a ton for foreign ships.
Over time, Trinity House were informed by passing coastal traffic that Portland's lights were often poorly maintained and sometimes failed to be lit altogether. The corporation raised their concerns in 1751 and in the face of continued complaints decided to carry out an inspection in 1752, where they discovered "it was nigh two hours after sunset before any light appeared in either of the lighthouses" and that both lanterns were in a poor state of maintenance. Although the leaseholders soon carried out necessary repairs and changes, their application to renew the original lease in 1777 was denied and responsibility for the lighthouses reverted to Trinity House.
As the end of the 18th century approached and in light of complaints over the existing lights, Trinity House embarked on a modernisation and improvement scheme for Portland. It commenced in 1788 with the installation of a new lantern at the higher lighthouse. The work was supervised by the engineer Samuel Wyatt and the copper lantern contained Argand oil lamps, which marked the first installation of them in a British lighthouse. They were set in two rows, seven in each row, and were lit with oil and a cotton wick of three-quarters an inch in diameter, and furnished with highly-polished reflectors. The new light first shone out during August 1788 and work then began on rebuilding the lower lighthouse in 1789. The success of the modernisation of both lighthouses was described in a contemporary report: "No expense was spared to make the lights as good as possible; and so well did they succeed that it often happened that the lights were visible till the distance was so great as to sink them below the horizon."
In 1824, Trinity House replaced the lighthouse's fixed light with a three-sided revolving one, which allowed each face to "exhibit its greatest light every two minutes". The corporation decided to revert the light to a fixed type in 1835 and the work was carried out the following year by Chance Brothers and Co under the supervision of engineer James Walker. Further navigational aids at Portland Bill followed that century, with the erection of a white stone obelisk at the Bill Point in 1844 and the placing of the first lightship at the Shambles sandbank in 1859. Meanwhile, in 1856, Trinity House carried out a £1,050 improvement scheme for both lighthouses, which included the installation of new optics and oil lamps, while the higher lighthouse's height was raised 15 feet to increase its range.
Despite this, the corporation sought tenders in 1865 for the demolition and replacement of both lighthouses, including their associated keeper dwellings, to improve range and visibilty. The new lighthouses were designed by James Nicholas Douglass and their construction completed during 1867, although the new quarters and other work was not completed until late 1869. The contract for the construction and erection of the lanterns was given to Chance Brothers and Co and the two first-order fixed optic lens were constructed at their factory in Smethwick, West Midlands. The higher light was first lit during March 1867.
Decommissioning of lighthouse and aftermath
In 1901, Trinity House made the decision to replace the lighthouses with a single one at Bill Point. In addition to the increasing importance of Portland Harbour and its naval station, the harbour's complete enclosure with the construction of two new breakwater arms between 1896-1905 led Trinity House to consider a potential re-organisation of the existing lights at Portland. At Portland Bill, they felt that the two lighthouses had become obsolete and only a newly-constructed lighthouse was able to meet all modern navigational requirements, particularly in light of the loss of approximately fifteen vessels off Portland in storms during 1901. Construction commenced in October 1903 and was completed in late 1905. The new Portland Bill Lighthouse first shone on 11 January 1906, allowing the lower and higher lighthouses to be decommissioned.
The two lighthouses were auctioned in February 1907 by the Weymouth-based firm Messrs Milledge and Son, who described the properties as "most substantially erected and capable, with a small outlay, of being converted into bungalow residences, the situation being exceptionally charming and the healthiest along the sea coast." Both had a reserve of £400 and although the lower lighthouse failed to reach this sum, the higher lighthouse was sold for £405 to W. Spackman of London. Later in 1923, the lighthouse was purchased by the doctor, pioneer of birth control and Portland Museum founder Marie Stopes, who used it as a summer residence until her death in 1958. During her time at the lighthouse, some of Stope's guest visitors included George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells and Thomas Hardy.
During World War II, the local branch of the Royal Observer Corps (ROC) used the lighthouse tower as an ROC Post from circa 1942. The role of the ROC was to identify aircraft approaching the UK and the lighthouse was used as part of an extensive network of posts designed to confirm and report hostile aircraft. The ROC had initially operated from posts at New Ground and Grove Point, with the former of the two replaced by the new one at the lighthouse. Known as ROC Stope Tower, the personnel of the post received recognition on a number of occasions for their excellent plotting, as well as helping guide damaged Allied planes home. During the war, Stopes also decided to rent accommodation at the lighthouse out to naval officers, who in turn were visited by friends and family, including Margot Fonteyn and her mother.
In the 1950s, Stopes sold the lighthouse and it began functioning as a restaurant during the early 1960s, but by the middle of the decade, it had become empty and derelict. The property's latest owners bought the lighthouse in 1981 and refurbished the entire property. With four cottages within its grounds, both the Branscombe Lodge Cottage and Stopes Cottage are now available as holiday lets.
References
The following is an A-Z list of references for this page.
1) Ancestry.com - Genealogy - Portland Year Book 1905 - Chronology of the Island of Portland 700 - 1905 AD - Paul Benyon - website page
2) Ancestry.com - Genealogy - Portland Year Book 1905 - Light-Houses - Paul Benyon - website page
3) Do You Remember? - Portland's War - Part 2 - Sept. 1940 to Sept. 1941 - An Island Time Publication - Amusement World - pages 31, 32 - book
4) Dorset Magazine - Portland – Three Lighthouses Walk - Teresa Ridout - March 2014 - website page
5) Exploring Portland - The Higher Lighthouse - Geoff Kirby - website page
6) Google Books - Report of the commissioners appointed to inquire into the condition and management of lights, buoys, and beacons - 1861 - Volumes 1-2 - book
7) Historic England - The National Heritage List for England - Old Higher Lighthouse with Boundary Walls - website page
8) Lighthouses: Their History and Romance - W. J. Hardy, F.S.A. - The Religious Tract Society - 1895 - pages 104-05 - book
9) Lighthouses of England and Wales: Portland Bill - Martin Boyle and Ken Trethewey - B & T Publications - 1996 - ISBN: 978-1901043013 - book
10) Memoir, Descriptive and Explanatory: To Accompany the New Chart of the Atlantic Ocean - Position of Places: England and Wales: Notes - John Purdy - 1825 - book
11) Old Higher Lighthouse - Official Website - History of the Old Higher Lighthouse - website page
12) Pastscape - Monument No. 1413281 - website page
13) Portland: A Topographical and Historical Gazetteer - Roy Mackenzie - 1999 - page 23 - book
14) Portland Encyclopaedia - Rodney Legg - Dorset Publishing Company - 1999 - ISBN: 978-0948699566 - page 68 - book
15) Photographers Resource - Lighthouses: Portland Bill Lighthouse - website page
16) Royal Observer Corps Association - Satellite Posts of the Royal Observer Corps (1940 to 1945) - website page
17) The British Newspaper Archive - various contemporary newspaper articles - website page
18) The Nautical Magazine for 1835 - Hydography: Portland High Light - various authors - magazine
19) Trinity House - Lighthouses - Portland Bill Lighthouse - website page
History
Original construction and operation of lighthouse
For centuries, Portland's position in the English Channel, with its treacherous coastline, has made it a major shipping hazard. Both Chesil Beach and Portland Bill in particular have been the location of many shipwrecks. The narrow promontory of Portland Bill is notably dangerous because of its shallow reefs and ledges such as the Portland Ledge, the Shambles sandbank to the south-east, and the Portland Race - a tidal race caused by the clashing of tides, and further exacerbated by the reduced depths over the Portland Ledge. Prior to the construction of any lighthouse, beacons had been lit on Branscombe Hill, overlooking the Bill, since Roman times, while Portland's two windmills later acted as prominent landmarks to the north.
In 1669, Sir John Clayton was successful in obtaining a patent for the erection of a lighthouse with two lights at Portland Bill, despite the objections of Trinity House. However, as the patent specified that its upkeep would be dependent on voluntary donations from shipowners, Clayton was unable to secure an agreement and the scheme was abandoned. Towards the end of the 17th century, Captain William Holman of Weymouth began a petition for the erection of a lighthouse and in 1700 he submitted an application to have two lighthouses built. Despite support from shipowners and the Corporation of Weymouth, the application was rejected, with Corporation of Trinity House opposing the idea, believing that lights at the Bill would be "needless" considering the height of the land and the water being deep "to the very shore". Furthermore, the corporation argued that "shipowners could not bear the burden of their upkeep".
Regardless, local seafarers continued to petition for a lighthouse and managed to gain much public support, forcing Trinity House to later concede that a lighthouse at the Bill was necessary. The corporation submitted a patent in January 1716 which King George I granted on 26 May, by which time the corporation had already issued a 61-year lease to William Barrett, Francis Browne and Charles Langrishe at a price of £100 to build and maintain "one or more convenient lighthouses with good and visible lights to be kept continually there in the night season, so as ships might the better come to their ports without peril."
One lighthouse was built at the top of Branscombe Hill, while the other was placed a short distance to the south on lower land. Work had progressed far enough for the two lighthouses to shine out for the first time on 29 September 1716, with both producing their beams using coal inside glazed lanterns. Completion of keepers' accommodation and stores followed that November. The dues to be collected from all ships passing the Bill was set at a halfpenny per ton for English ships and a penny a ton for foreign ships.
Over time, Trinity House were informed by passing coastal traffic that Portland's lights were often poorly maintained and sometimes failed to be lit altogether. The corporation raised their concerns in 1751 and in the face of continued complaints decided to carry out an inspection in 1752, where they discovered "it was nigh two hours after sunset before any light appeared in either of the lighthouses" and that both lanterns were in a poor state of maintenance. Although the leaseholders soon carried out necessary repairs and changes, their application to renew the original lease in 1777 was denied and responsibility for the lighthouses reverted to Trinity House.
As the end of the 18th century approached and in light of complaints over the existing lights, Trinity House embarked on a modernisation and improvement scheme for Portland. It commenced in 1788 with the installation of a new lantern at the higher lighthouse. The work was supervised by the engineer Samuel Wyatt and the copper lantern contained Argand oil lamps, which marked the first installation of them in a British lighthouse. They were set in two rows, seven in each row, and were lit with oil and a cotton wick of three-quarters an inch in diameter, and furnished with highly-polished reflectors. The new light first shone out during August 1788 and work then began on rebuilding the lower lighthouse in 1789. The success of the modernisation of both lighthouses was described in a contemporary report: "No expense was spared to make the lights as good as possible; and so well did they succeed that it often happened that the lights were visible till the distance was so great as to sink them below the horizon."
In 1824, Trinity House replaced the lighthouse's fixed light with a three-sided revolving one, which allowed each face to "exhibit its greatest light every two minutes". The corporation decided to revert the light to a fixed type in 1835 and the work was carried out the following year by Chance Brothers and Co under the supervision of engineer James Walker. Further navigational aids at Portland Bill followed that century, with the erection of a white stone obelisk at the Bill Point in 1844 and the placing of the first lightship at the Shambles sandbank in 1859. Meanwhile, in 1856, Trinity House carried out a £1,050 improvement scheme for both lighthouses, which included the installation of new optics and oil lamps, while the higher lighthouse's height was raised 15 feet to increase its range.
Despite this, the corporation sought tenders in 1865 for the demolition and replacement of both lighthouses, including their associated keeper dwellings, to improve range and visibilty. The new lighthouses were designed by James Nicholas Douglass and their construction completed during 1867, although the new quarters and other work was not completed until late 1869. The contract for the construction and erection of the lanterns was given to Chance Brothers and Co and the two first-order fixed optic lens were constructed at their factory in Smethwick, West Midlands. The higher light was first lit during March 1867.
Decommissioning of lighthouse and aftermath
In 1901, Trinity House made the decision to replace the lighthouses with a single one at Bill Point. In addition to the increasing importance of Portland Harbour and its naval station, the harbour's complete enclosure with the construction of two new breakwater arms between 1896-1905 led Trinity House to consider a potential re-organisation of the existing lights at Portland. At Portland Bill, they felt that the two lighthouses had become obsolete and only a newly-constructed lighthouse was able to meet all modern navigational requirements, particularly in light of the loss of approximately fifteen vessels off Portland in storms during 1901. Construction commenced in October 1903 and was completed in late 1905. The new Portland Bill Lighthouse first shone on 11 January 1906, allowing the lower and higher lighthouses to be decommissioned.
The two lighthouses were auctioned in February 1907 by the Weymouth-based firm Messrs Milledge and Son, who described the properties as "most substantially erected and capable, with a small outlay, of being converted into bungalow residences, the situation being exceptionally charming and the healthiest along the sea coast." Both had a reserve of £400 and although the lower lighthouse failed to reach this sum, the higher lighthouse was sold for £405 to W. Spackman of London. Later in 1923, the lighthouse was purchased by the doctor, pioneer of birth control and Portland Museum founder Marie Stopes, who used it as a summer residence until her death in 1958. During her time at the lighthouse, some of Stope's guest visitors included George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells and Thomas Hardy.
During World War II, the local branch of the Royal Observer Corps (ROC) used the lighthouse tower as an ROC Post from circa 1942. The role of the ROC was to identify aircraft approaching the UK and the lighthouse was used as part of an extensive network of posts designed to confirm and report hostile aircraft. The ROC had initially operated from posts at New Ground and Grove Point, with the former of the two replaced by the new one at the lighthouse. Known as ROC Stope Tower, the personnel of the post received recognition on a number of occasions for their excellent plotting, as well as helping guide damaged Allied planes home. During the war, Stopes also decided to rent accommodation at the lighthouse out to naval officers, who in turn were visited by friends and family, including Margot Fonteyn and her mother.
In the 1950s, Stopes sold the lighthouse and it began functioning as a restaurant during the early 1960s, but by the middle of the decade, it had become empty and derelict. The property's latest owners bought the lighthouse in 1981 and refurbished the entire property. With four cottages within its grounds, both the Branscombe Lodge Cottage and Stopes Cottage are now available as holiday lets.
References
The following is an A-Z list of references for this page.
1) Ancestry.com - Genealogy - Portland Year Book 1905 - Chronology of the Island of Portland 700 - 1905 AD - Paul Benyon - website page
2) Ancestry.com - Genealogy - Portland Year Book 1905 - Light-Houses - Paul Benyon - website page
3) Do You Remember? - Portland's War - Part 2 - Sept. 1940 to Sept. 1941 - An Island Time Publication - Amusement World - pages 31, 32 - book
4) Dorset Magazine - Portland – Three Lighthouses Walk - Teresa Ridout - March 2014 - website page
5) Exploring Portland - The Higher Lighthouse - Geoff Kirby - website page
6) Google Books - Report of the commissioners appointed to inquire into the condition and management of lights, buoys, and beacons - 1861 - Volumes 1-2 - book
7) Historic England - The National Heritage List for England - Old Higher Lighthouse with Boundary Walls - website page
8) Lighthouses: Their History and Romance - W. J. Hardy, F.S.A. - The Religious Tract Society - 1895 - pages 104-05 - book
9) Lighthouses of England and Wales: Portland Bill - Martin Boyle and Ken Trethewey - B & T Publications - 1996 - ISBN: 978-1901043013 - book
10) Memoir, Descriptive and Explanatory: To Accompany the New Chart of the Atlantic Ocean - Position of Places: England and Wales: Notes - John Purdy - 1825 - book
11) Old Higher Lighthouse - Official Website - History of the Old Higher Lighthouse - website page
12) Pastscape - Monument No. 1413281 - website page
13) Portland: A Topographical and Historical Gazetteer - Roy Mackenzie - 1999 - page 23 - book
14) Portland Encyclopaedia - Rodney Legg - Dorset Publishing Company - 1999 - ISBN: 978-0948699566 - page 68 - book
15) Photographers Resource - Lighthouses: Portland Bill Lighthouse - website page
16) Royal Observer Corps Association - Satellite Posts of the Royal Observer Corps (1940 to 1945) - website page
17) The British Newspaper Archive - various contemporary newspaper articles - website page
18) The Nautical Magazine for 1835 - Hydography: Portland High Light - various authors - magazine
19) Trinity House - Lighthouses - Portland Bill Lighthouse - website page
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