Casquets Lighthouse is an active lighthouse located on the rocky Les Casquets, Alderney, Channel Islands.
History
18th century
Originally the lighthouse was one of three lighthouses which were established together on Les Casquets in the early 1720s. All three were lit by coal fires. The decision was taken to build three towers so as to give the lights a distinctive appearance which would not be confused with lighthouses in nearby France, and also to distinguish them from the double lighthouse which had recently been established on Portland Bill to the north (which marked the opposite side of the English Channel). The individual lighthouses were named St Peter's (the north-west tower), St Thomas (the south-west tower) and Dungeon (the easternmost tower). The towers were built of stone quarried from the island itself; the west towers were taller than the east tower, but all three lights were at the same elevation from sea level. They started operation on 30 October 1724. Stone walls were built, linking the three towers, to create a triangular compound for the keepers who lived on site.
The lighthouses were built by Thomas Le Cocq, owner of the rocks, under license from Trinity House. Le Cocq was granted a 61-year lease: he was to be paid a halfpenny per ton of ship when vessels passed the rocks (foreign vessels were to pay double) and in turn he paid Trinity House 50 pounds per year for the right to run the lighthouses.
Each coal brazier, atop its tower, was placed within a glass lantern to protect against the wind; but these were prone to getting obscured by soot. Moreover, when the lighthouses were inspected (following the loss of HMS Victory, which had gone down with over a thousand souls in 1744) it was found that several broken panes of glass had been replaced with wood, and that larger braziers, which Trinity House had provided to improve the lights, had not been installed (Le Cocq wishing to avoid increased expenditure on coal).
Thomas Le Cocq died in 1760; his grandchildren inherited the lease. They left Les Casquets in the hands of a local agent, who recruited the keepers and managed their supplies of food and of coal for the lights. He went on to oversee the rebuilding of the towers, which were fitted with new copper and glass lanterns containing oil lamps in place of the coal fires; these came into operation on 30 October 1779 (allowing the number of keepers on station to be reduced from seven to four).
In 1785 the lease which had been granted to Le Cocq expired and the lighthouses reverted to Trinity House. Five years later they were again upgraded, each tower being fitted with new-style parabolic reflectors and 'a number of Argand-lamps, fixed on a ring, moving in a circular revolution, and presenting alternately a bright body of light in every direction'. A single clockwork mechanism caused the lamps to revolve, which was connected to the three towers by way of a system of ropes and sheaves. The new lamps and reflectors were first used on 25 November 1790.
19th century
In the early nineteenth century the lights were looked after by a family living on the island. Local historian John Jacob describes the lighthouses in 1815 as being kept by 'a man, his wife and a grown up daughter, whose duty was pretty severe, in watching and trimming the lamps at night, particularly in winter, when the spray of the sea flies over, perhaps double the height of the towers'. As well as living quarters for the family, the compound contained a house for the agent to use on his visits to the island, a carpenter's shop for repairs, a small vegetable garden (with soil provided from Alderney) and a considerable amount of storage room (mostly within the two western towers), where stocks of provisions 'brought here in fair season' could be kept for winter sustenance. A shutter telegraph enabled communication with Alderney. Victuals such as salt beef, flour, malt and biscuit were provided by Trinity House; there were two (later three) landing areas for boats on the island, and a system of different coloured flags was used to signal to approaching vessels which (if any) was safe to use at that particular time. As well as growing vegetables, the family kept poultry on the island and caught a great many fish, which were either consumed promptly or else cured and kept for later.