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South Foreland lighthouse.
South Foreland Lighthouse built in the 1840’s stands on top of the Langdon Cliff, part of the White Cliffs of Dover. The present building is one a series of warning lights built over the years designed to keep vessels from the treacherous Goodwin Sands (ten kilometers off shore) and indicate a safe passage into Dover harbour. The oldest shipwreck in England, dating from the Bronze Age around 3100 years ago, was found nearby and there have been at least 2000 more since.
The first lights were provided by fire beacons and then by lighthouses in Roman times. Originally this light was powered by whale oil but by 1875 this was replaced under the supervision of Michael Faraday with carbon arc lamps powered by a steam magneto.
In 1898 Marconi used the lighthouse for his pioneering work on radio waves and he achieved the first radio transmission across the English Channel on 27th March 1899, contacting the South Foreland Lighthouse from Wimereux in France.
In 1904, South Foreland's fixed light was replaced with a rotating mechanism. Weights, weighing more than 250 kg, were hand wound each hour to the top of the tower then the geared descent provided the power to the rotating lantern on a bed of mercury. The resulting flashing light was visible for forty two kilometers,
By 1988 modern technology had replaced both the off-shore lightship and this lighthouse. Since then it has been maintained by the National Trust.
South Foreland lighthouse.
South Foreland Lighthouse built in the 1840’s stands on top of the Langdon Cliff, part of the White Cliffs of Dover. The present building is one a series of warning lights built over the years designed to keep vessels from the treacherous Goodwin Sands (ten kilometers off shore) and indicate a safe passage into Dover harbour. The oldest shipwreck in England, dating from the Bronze Age around 3100 years ago, was found nearby and there have been at least 2000 more since.
The first lights were provided by fire beacons and then by lighthouses in Roman times. Originally this light was powered by whale oil but by 1875 this was replaced under the supervision of Michael Faraday with carbon arc lamps powered by a steam magneto.
In 1898 Marconi used the lighthouse for his pioneering work on radio waves and he achieved the first radio transmission across the English Channel on 27th March 1899, contacting the South Foreland Lighthouse from Wimereux in France.
In 1904, South Foreland's fixed light was replaced with a rotating mechanism. Weights, weighing more than 250 kg, were hand wound each hour to the top of the tower then the geared descent provided the power to the rotating lantern on a bed of mercury. The resulting flashing light was visible for forty two kilometers,
By 1988 modern technology had replaced both the off-shore lightship and this lighthouse. Since then it has been maintained by the National Trust.