Smeaton's Tower

England’s coasts are notorious for rough weather, dangerous seas and deathly obstacles. The Eddystone rocks are among them. Several attempts were made to place a marker on these reefs. The first attempt was called the Winstanley Lighthouse. After it was destroyed in the 1703 storm, a second one called the Rudyard lighthouse was built. John Smeaton is considered the father of civil engineering. After the Rudyard lighthouse was destroyed, there was intense pressure to build a third lighthouse quickly. Smeaton was recommended by the Royal Society to design a lighthouse on the Eddystone Rocks in what is considered his greatest achievement.

Smeaton had to build his lighthouse to be strong enough to survive the elements (the first lighthouse was destroyed in a storm). Construction started in 1756 at a site in Millbay, where Smeaton built a jetty and a workyard in the south-western corner of the harbour to unload and work on stones. Timber rails of gauge were laid for four-wheeled flat trucks, which were used to move masonry around the site. A 10-ton ship named Eddystone Boat was based here, and transported worked stones out to the reef. The ship carried the 2¼-ton foundation stone out in the morning of 12 June 1756. The work was completed in August 1759 at a cost of £40,000 (£}} with inflation). Many Cornish tin miners were…