Anglesey's Beacon

South Stack Lighthouse.

- Andria Massey

The South Stack lighthouse on the island of Anglesey is a landmark off the coastline of north-west Wales. It was decided as early as 1665 that a lighthouse was required at this point, but a representation made to King Charles II was rejected despite all the maritime accidents in the area.

In 1807 Captain Hugh Evans researched the maritime disasters that had occurred during the previous 12 months, drawing diagrams and mapping the events to provide the Government with overwhelming evidence of the need for a lighthouse. As a result the building was sanctioned almost immediately, with the decision to construct it on the summit of the small island known as Ynys Lawd at a cost of £12,000.

Daniel Alexandra was the designer and engineer and Joseph Nelson the builder being employed between 1808 and 1809. The construction was not without its problems largely due to the weather conditions. The chasm between the island and mainland was first traversed by a hempen cable approximately 70 feet above sea level, along which a sliding basket was drawn carrying workers and stores. It required a tremendous feat to build the pathway for access to the building site, with the requirement to carve 400 steps from 400 feet out of the Pre-Cambrian rock face. The workers were dropped off by boat to climb to where the next step was to be carved with the view of a sheer rock face ahead of them.