10 lighthouses with claims to fame, the legacies of which shine on
- To celebrate National Lighthouse Day in the US, on August 7, here is a collection of the world’s most interesting signal towers
- Often situated in areas of outstanding natural beauty, decommissioned lighthouses have been converted into hotels and holiday cottages
Symbolising safety and reassurance in the stormiest of seas, more than 18,600 lighthouses worldwide guide ships away from reefs, rocks and rugged coastlines. The advent of computerised navigation technology has triggered their demise, however, and eliminated the need for lighthouse keepers. Surviving signal towers are mostly automated and rely on solar power and halogen lights – a far cry from the hilltop bonfires and oil-burning lamps that guided ancient mariners.
Lighthouses are invariably situated in areas of outstanding natural beauty and, in recent years, governments have been selling off the historic but increasingly obsolete buildings. Maintenance costs are high but the views are unbeatable – it’s no surprise many have been converted into hotels, B&Bs and holiday cottages.
On August 7 each year, the United States celebrates National Lighthouse Day. The occasion offers the public a chance to visit and learn about a nautical navigational aid that was invented with the noble aim of ensuring the safety of strangers. In a nod to these majestic maritime monuments, here’s an international list of lighthouses, each with its own claim to fame.
The US was once home to at least 850 lighthouses but not many have signalled to seafarers from more than one location. Mayo Beach Lighthouse was cast in the late 19th century and installed overlooking Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In 1925, it was dismantled for scrap metal, or so locals assumed, but, three years later, it turned up on a rocky stretch of California coastline, south of San Francisco.
Today Point Montara Lighthouse welcomes guests in its current guise as a youth hostel, with its own private beach no less.