Construction masonry tower Height 18 m Range 14,816 m Automated 1983 | Light source solar power Opened 1916 Focal height 54 m Year first constructed 1916 | |
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Location Skokholm islandPembrokeshireWalesUnited Kingdom Tower shape octagonal prism tower with balcony and lantern on a 2-storey keeper’s house Markings / pattern white tower and lantern Current lens 4th Order (250mm) catadioptric rotating Similar South Bishop Lighthouse, St Tudwal’s Lighthouse, Caldey Lighthouse, Skerries Lighthouse, Hilbre Island Lighthouse | ||
Skokholm Lighthouse is a lighthouse found on the small Welsh island of Skokholm, just off the south-west coast of Pembrokeshire.
Skokholm island, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, is owned and managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales. The site of the United Kingdom's first bird observatory, a great variety of birds can be found on what today is an uninhabited island.
History
The present lighthouse was constructed over several years up to 1915 and was officially opened in 1916. Forming a triangle of lights with South Bishop and the Smalls to protect shipping moving into and out of Milford Haven and the Bristol Channel, the lighthouse shines 20 miles (32 km).
Construction of the present lighthouse was only enabled after the construction of a new jetty. This enabled building materials to be landed, which were then moved to the site using a narrow gauge railway, initially powered by a donkey, then a pony, and finally a tractor. Once in operation, relief was provided by boat from Holyhead. Automated in 1983, it is now monitored and controlled from the Trinity House Operations Control Centre at Harwich in Essex.