The New Student's Reference Work/Eddystone Lighthouse

Ed′dystone Lighthouse was first built in 1696–1700 on the group of rocks called the Eddy stone, lying between Start Point and the Lizard in the English Channel, nine miles from the Cornish coast. The rocks are covered every day by the tide; and were the cause of many shipwrecks before the lighthouse was built. The first lighthouse was completely washed away in a storm in 1703, and the second was burned in 1755. The third was built of limestone incased in granite. The granite is dovetailed into the solid rock, and each block into its neighbor. It was shaped like an oak-tree aud the light could be seen for 13 miles. The lighthouse was of great strength, but the sea began to wash away the foundation-rocks, and it thus became necessary to build another. The new one was put up in 1882, and is like the one before it, with the exception that it is higher and is equipped with newer apparatus. It casts a light for 17½ miles. See.