Henry Winstanley was interested in practically everything. He was particularly interested in engraving and architecture, and worked in both those fields, but he also found time to invent a perpetual motion device and to design a deck of playing cards. The playing cards became a best seller.
What Winstanley was best known for however, were his inventions. He built a little house in Essex and filled it with all kinds of gizmos, including trap doors and chairs that “ate” people. He was also interested in hydraulics, and built a Mechanical Water Theater in Piccadilly. It was a hugely popular attraction that combined water mechanisms and fireworks, and it was responsible for a large part of Winstanley’s income.
With his new-found wealth, Winstanley invested in commercial enterprises, and before long he owned five ships. When two of them were wrecked on the Eddystone Rocks near Plymouth, he demanded to know why the government didn’t do anything about the hazard. He was told that it was impossible.
The Eddystone Rocks lie about 14 kilometers off the southwest coast of England, a danger to any ship crossing the English Channel. Few, if any, lighthouses were built in the open sea in those days. Winstanley was told it was much too dangerous to attempt to build a lighthouse there.
That was all the challenge Winstanley needed. He designed a lighthouse and, with the support of the Admiralty, began to build it himself. It cost him over £7,000 out-of-pocket, an expense he would never recoup. The lighthouse was to be an octagonal structure, with 12 iron stanchions anchoring it to the rock, built of Cornish granite and wood, with a glass lantern room at the top, where 50 candles would burn.
Part of the Admiralty’s support consisted of providing protection to Winstanley and the workers while the lighthouse was being built. England was at war with France, supporting Spain in the Spanish War of Succession. A naval vessel was assigned to keep guard while the men worked.
One day the guardship did not arrive as scheduled, and a French privateer took advantage. He destroyed all the work that had been done so far, and captured Winstanley and took him to France. Louis XIV wanted no part of such an operation, however. He ordered Winstanley’s immediate release, saying, “France is at war with the English, not with humanity.”
Winstanley returned to his rock, and the lighthouse was completed in 1698. No sooner was it finished, than he discovered that it creaked, and he completely redesigned and rebuilt it. He was very pleased with the new design, and stated that he wished that he could “be in the lighthouse during the greatest storm there ever was.”
In 1703, Winstanley got his wish. The Great Storm of 1703, as it was known, descended on the southern part of England on November 24th. Some damage was done to the lighthouse, and Winstanley took a crew of men out to make repairs. On November 27th, the lighthouse was destroyed, sweeping all the men into the sea. Winstanley’s body was never found.
The Great Storm persisted until December 2nd, achieving windspeeds of 120 mph — a “perfect hurricane.” Between 8,000 and 15,000 lives were lost in total. The Royal Navy alone lost 13 ships and more than 1500 seamen. 700 ships were heaped together in the Thames. More than 400 oaks were destroyed in the New Forest, a site that goes back to at least the 11th century.
Winstanley’s lighthouse was only the first of four lighthouses erected on the same site. The current version was designed by James Douglas and was first lit in 1882. Since 1982, it has been automated. It is 161 feet high, with a light that flashes every 10 seconds, and is visible for 22 nautical miles.
Sources: “Eddystone Lighthouse”, Wikipedia; “Henry Winstanley”, Wikipedia; “Great Storm of 1703″, Wikipedia; Martin Rose, “Two Dimensions of Theatrical Toad”, Times Higher Education website; “The Lighthouse Man”, Listen to English website; Lisa Marie Wilkinson, “Famous People: Henry Winstanley”, Unusual Historicals website; Paul Brown, “How Henry Winstanley Became a Hero in 1698″, The Guardian; John H. Lienhard, “No. 1888: Henry Winstanley”, Engines of Our Ingenuity website.