Maps

Aerial images above and below by  Marinas.com   (more images are available)

Mumbles Lighthouse has guided vessels along the coast and into Swansea Bay, for over 200 years, past the hazards of the Mixon Shoal 0.5 of a mile to the South.

This area has a 43ft tide, which some say is the second largest in the world, after the Bay of Fundy in Canada. The currents generated at the mouth of the Bay by the tide changes makes this a particularly dangerous spot when compounded by storms and it has seen numerous shipwrecks over the centuries.

The lighthouse is built on the outer of two islands, known as Mumbles Head, about 500 yards to the east southeast of the mainland projection known as Mumbles near Swansea. This island is accessible by foot at certain states of the tide or by boat at high water. It is clearly visible from any point along the five mile sweep of Swansea Bay.

In 1791 the Harbour Act gave the Swansea Harbour Trustees the power to provide a lighthouse for the outer Mumbles.

In July 1792 the Trustees contracted for the erection of the lighthouse and work began.

In October 1792 the half finished structure collapsed.

In 1793 the plans of the local architect, William Jernegan, were accepted and the lighthouse was finally completed and lit in 1794.

The Mumbles lighthouse originally displayed two open coal fire lights, one above the other, to distinguish it from St Ann's Head Lighthouse, which had two lights on separate towers and from Flat Holm Lighthouse  with one light.

The coal lights in braziers were expensive and difficult to maintain, so were quickly replaced with a single oil powered light consisting of argand lamps with reflectors within a cast iron lantern. The original design for the two lights is still reflected in the two tier structure of the tower. The fort or battery which surrounds the southern side of the lighthouse was built in 1860 by the War Department. A dioptric light was fitted in 1860. The occulting mechanism in 1905 and in 1934 the station was automated.

From Postcard of around 1905

In the 1930's the light was fuelled by kerosene, and there was superstructure containing the Fresnel lens and assorted light related apparatus. I came across an account of someone visiting at that time, explaining how he visited and was shown by the lighthouse keeper what it was he had to do.

Until 1 November 1975, the lighthouse was owned and operated by the British Transport Docks Board, after that Trinity House took over the responsibility for this lighthouse.

In 1977 the lantern, which had badly deteriorated and was beyond repair, was removed.

In 1987 a lantern which had been removed from Light Vessel 25 (Abertay) was installed on top of the tower.

In 1995 the Lighthouse was converted to solar powered operation, with solar module arrays mounted in frames on the fort roof. A pair of biformed Tideland ML300 lanterns replaced the main light and a new emergency light, fog detector and control and monitoring equipment were installed. This is all linked to Trinity House at Harwich in Essex.

Photo from Wikipedia

Photo from Wikipedia  

Above and below are Photochromes from around 1900, the one below is a section of the one above
If you compare this with the above images from now, you will see different buildings and
that the original lantern housing was larger.
See also the postcard view above.

Photochromes are from Camera Images GBPictures collection

Please let us know any other information that we can add to the Grid or page and any errors that you discover. Before making a long trip to any location it is always wise to double check the current information, websites like magazines may be correct at the time the information is written, but things change and it is of course impossible to double check all entries on a regular basis. If you have any good photographs that you feel would improve the illustration of this page then please let us have copies. In referring to this page it is helpful if you quote both the Page Ref and Topic or Section references from the Grid below. To print the planning grid select it then right click and print the selected area.

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By: Keith Park	Section:  Lighthouses Section	Key:
Page Ref: Mumbles_Lighthouse	Topic: Lighthouses	Last Updated: 06/2010

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