Lighthouse Research

Lighthouses

A Lighthouse is a building, usually a tall tower that emits light from an intricate system of lamps and lenses. They are used as a navigational aid for people at sea, They mark dangerous coastlines, reefs and shoals, and they also mark safe harbour entries. Lighthouses were once widely used, but their usage has declines in recent years because of the high maintenance cost and the introduction of more modern electronic navigational systems such as strobe lights.

Before the development of clearly defined ports, boats and ships were guided by fires built on mountain tops and high up hillsides. The firs lighthouses ever used were given to us by nature. Sailors used to use landmarks such as active volcanoes to guide them. Far back in the past, trading ships were eventually built to enable navigators to sail large distances to sell and buy other goods. In the days were people used wooden ships, the wind and the violent nature of the waves could easily lead a boat into land or rocks, completely wrecking them, so a need for warning arose.

Although we think of lighthouses as being tall, red and white painted buildings with lights on the top, each and every lighthouse is designed differently, with a different pattern or painting style. Some could be square, hexagonal any shape really. Lighthouses used to be constructed with whatever material was readily available at the time, some made of concrete, brick, wood, iron or even steel.