Millbay, Plymouth

Mosaic of Smeaton's Lighthouse base

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This is a mosaic set into the pavement at the junction between Millbay Road and West Hoe road. It shows the structural cross section of John Smeaton's Granite and Portland stone lighthouse started in 1756 and completed in 1759. It was the first in the world to be constructed of interlocking stone blocks. Here you can see how Smeaton's revolutionary technique worked, and the proof was that his tower stood for 123 years and was only replaced because the sea had undermined the rock base. The Lighthouse was then removed from the Eddystone rocks in 1877 and reassembled on Plymouth Hoe. It has been a Grade 1 Listed Building since 1954.

Uploaded to Geograph by Mike Lyne on 20 January 2012

Creative Commons License Photo © Mike Lyne, 20 January 2012. Licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons licence

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