History

The lighthouse and telegraph station was built in 1862, designed by G Lyster as engineer in chief to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, in collaboration with Trinity House. The design is very similar to that of Point Lynas lighthouse, which was also designed for the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, and where Lyster extended the original buildings which were the work of Jesse Hartley. Originally the fixed light was illuminated by a parafin lamp which was replaced in 1904 by a petroleum burner and in 1923 by acetylene lamps. In use until 1985, when the optic and telegraph equipment were removed. The building is now a hotel.

Exterior

Strong square castellated two-storey building with rusticated rubble walls, originally whitewashed. Flat roof, with axial stacks with corbelled caps. South-east main elevation of three widely spaced bays with embattled parapet with machicolation. Chamfered window openings, two on first floor and two below. Centre ground floor bay with doorway with plaque above it with this inscription 'This lighthouse was ereceted by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board 1862 G.F.Lyster, Engineer'. Small canted full-height projection overlooking sea on NW elevation houses lantern room with former telegraph room above. Lantern has a segmental bay window with vertical glazing bars, on a platform with cast-iron railings. At each return elevation, a small yard is enclosed by a high machicolated curved wall.

Reasons for Listing

Although the building does not retain any of its equipment, it remains as a strongly expressive and distinctive design, clearly indicating its original purpose, in a style especially associated with the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Great Orme Lighthouse at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q28465908

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide