Bishop Rock UK
Rating: 9,1/10 (1427 votes)  Bishop Rock (also called Bishop's Rock) is a very peculiar attraction. It is an island that is the most western point of land in England. It is one of the islands of the Scilly Archipelago.
The size of the island is so tiny (in fact, it is just a piece of rock rising out of the water) that it got into the Guinness Book of Records as the smallest island in the world with some kind of buildings. There is only one building on the island, and it occupies its entire territory. It is a huge lighthouse 49 meters high. Sailors can see its fire from 24 miles away.
Since the islands of the Scilly Archipelago, due to constant strong winds and waves, have always been a very frequent place of shipwrecks, in the middle of the 19th century, the British Parliament raised the question of building a lighthouse that would guide ships along a safe route. The installation of the lighthouse was entrusted to the pilot corporation Trinity House. In 1847, a Victorian-style lighthouse was built, but almost immediately it could not withstand the onslaught of the elements and was literally washed away into the sea.
By the way, the story is known that the inhabitants of the adjacent islands strongly opposed the installation of the lighthouse, since the shipwrecks that often occurred near Bishop Rock gave them considerable profit.
However, in 1858, a lighthouse was re-erected on the rock. This time it was made of granite slabs and became much stronger. Its height was then 33 meters, and its light could be seen 16 miles away. By 1881, this lighthouse was also battered by the elements, so engineer James Douglas created a project to strengthen it.
The building was faced with granite and reinforced with iron beams inside. The height of the structure has also increased. In the second half of the 20th century, electricity was supplied to the lighthouse, and a helipad was built at the top. As a result, the construction of the Bishop Rock lighthouse is the most expensive in the history of lighthouses.We also recommend reading Bluebell Railway in the UK Topic: Bishop Rock UK. |
