Leasowe
Lighthouse provided a line to navigators
when viewed with
Bidston Hill
Lighthouse.
Leasowe Lighthouse was built in 1763 by Liverpool
Corporation's Docks Committee (the forerunner of the Mersey Docks and
Harbour Board) and is the oldest brick built lighthouse in Britain.
It was one of four lights on the North Wirral
foreshore, the others being two at Hoylake and another, a lower light, at Leasowe. The latter was soon destroyed by the sea and was replaced by
Bidston Hill
Lighthouse
in 1771.
The lighthouse was operational until 14 July 1908, with the only known
female lighthouse keeper in those days, a Mrs Williams. It then became a
tearoom for a period, but was unused until 1989, when it became
base for the ranger service of the North Wirral Coastal Park.
It, like
Bidston Hill
Lighthouse,
was not required after buoys had been laid to show the safe channel.
The lighthouse has 8 floors with one room per
floor, starting from the bottom, store room, kitchen, living room, next 3
are bedrooms, store room and lamp room a spiral staircase goes right up to
the lamp room.
Ownership was assumed by the Wirral
Borough Council in 1988 after it had been left to become a wreck, and restoration has continued since by the Friends
of Leasowe Lighthouse, with council funding and grant aid. The
staircase is back in place and visitors can now go up. There is a visitor
centre in the base of the tower,
and funds are being raised to restore the upper rooms to their original
appearance. The visitor centre was renovated in 2006.
Located on Lingham
Lane in Leasowe Common in Moreton, about 8km (5 mi) west of Perch Rock
Light; the station is included in the
North Wirral Coastal Park.
Site open, visitor centre open daily,
tower open to guided tours on the first and third Sundays April through
September and the first Sunday of each month during the winter. For more
information see Friends of
Leasowe Lighthouse.
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