Holyhead Breakwater Lighthouse

The Holyhead Breakwater Lighthouse stands on the Holyhead Breakwater outside the Welsh port of Holyhead on Anglesey. The breakwater itself is a massive stone barrier built in the 19th century to shelter ships from storms. The lighthouse was the last major building completed on the breakwater in 1873. It was most likely designed by Victorian civil engineer John Hawkshaw after he took control of Holyhead harbour works in 1857. The structure is a three-storey square tower, measuring 63 feet high and resting 70 feet above the high-water mark. Unlike many contemporary lighthouses, its square design made the living quarters more comfortable. The lighthouse is architecturally important as part of the ambitious Victorian engineering works to create ‘harbours of refuge’ throughout Great Britain. It is a Grade II listed building. The tower’s external features include a roll-moulded string-course above the first floor and a moulded cornice supporting a walkway around a circular glass-housed light. The enclosed Fresnel lens creates a light with a range of 23 kilometres. In the 19th century, packet ships approaching Holyhead in the fog would be warned by a bell operated from the lighthouse. The lighthouse was staffed until November 1961, when it was automated. Among the last keepers in the 1950s were Arthur Burgess and David John Williams. Today the upkeep of the lighthouse is the responsibility of Holyhead port authority, operated by Stena Line. The breakwater offers long views across the Irish Sea towards the mountains of Snowdonia. The lighthouse remains a working aid to navigation, monitored from Trinity House’s Holyhead Control Centre.