Name Index

To

Louis the Fourteenth and the Eddystone Lighthouse

Trans. Devon. Assoc. 1890, Vol XXII, pp. 250-254.

by

H.B.S. Woodhouse

Prepared by Michael Steer

The paper was delivered at the Association’s July 1890 Barnstaple meeting. Eddystone Lighthouse, much celebrated in folk ballads and seamen’s lore, stands on the Eddystone Rocks, 14 miles off Plymouth. The first lighthouse (1696–99), built of timber, was swept away with its designer, Henry Winstanley, by the great storm of 1703. Prior to this, a notable incident during occurred in June 1697 during the construction of Winstanley’s lighthouse. At this time Britain and France were at war, and a naval vessel had been assigned to protect the workers whenever they were on the reef. One day, the commissioner at Plymouth, George St Lo, ordered the ship to join the fleet and did not provide a replacement. Instead, a French privateer destroyed the work done so far on the foundations and carried Winstanley off to France. Louis XIV, however, ordered his immediate release, with the words: "France is at war with England, not with humanity". Winstanley returned to the Eddystone reef, construction resumed, and the first Eddystone Lighthouse was completed in November 1698. The article, from a copy of a rare and much sought-after journal can be downloaded from the Internet Archive. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.