Whitby Lighthouse

The lighthouse, a white octagonal brick tower, was designed by James Walker of civil engineers Messrs. Walker, Burgess & Cooper. Foundations were laid on 12 April 1857 together they were sometimes referred to as the High Whitby lights. The North Light was of a similar octagonal design to the surviving South Light, but taller at 20.5 m (so that, although the North tower was on lower ground, the two lights were on the same focal plane). A pair of single-storey keepers' cottages was attached to each tower. In 1890, a more efficient lamp (a powerful eight-wick mineral-oil burner) was installed in the South Light, allowing the North Light to be deactivated: an occulting mechanism was also…