Skerries

Photo with kind permission of Trinity House.

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POSITION 53° 25’.3 N 4° 36’.4 W
Location: Cluster of Rocks to the north-east of Anglesey- Dyfed (Wales)
No. On Admiralty List of Lights: 5168
Present Tower Built: 1846
Tower Composition: Castellated Limestone Tower
Height of Tower: 75 ft (22.9 m)
Focal Height of Light: 117 ft (35.66 m) above mean high water
Designer: James Walker
First Lit: 23rd September 1846
Light Characteristic: Gp. Fl. (2) 10.0 secs
(0.2 second flash, eclipse 0.2 seconds, 0.2 second flash, eclipse 7.5 seconds every 10 seconds)
Visible Range on clear night: nominal 19 nautical miles
Automated: June 1987

The rocks upon which the Skerries Lighthouse stands are at the end of a low tract of submerged land Northeast of Holyhead which lies directly in the path of many of the major shipping lines from Liverpool and Ireland. The lighthouse gives a guide to passing shipping and a warning of the dangerous rocks.

A light was proposed on the Skerries as early as 1658, by Henry Mascard, a private speculator who saw the lucrative possibilities of the tolls that could be levied on the site. However this proposal was opposed by Trinity House, as was a petition in 1705 from the Irish Sea Traders.

William Trench who held the lease of the Skerries was granted a patent in 1714 by Queen Anne for the building of a light. Trench was given the right to levy dues of one penny per ship and two pence per ton of cargo, for a Crown Rent of Ł5 a year. But in reality this was not the profitable venture which he had envisaged, with the Skerries proving to be a total financial nightmare.

When the light was first kindled on 4th November 1717, but traders, ship owners and mariners did everything they could to avoid paying the dues for the upkeep of the light, which subsequently caused him to fall heavily into debt. From originally being a very wealthy, he died in 1729 a ruined man.

After Trench's death the lease passed to his daughter, and because of the nature of the debt, an Act of Parliament was passed to give his family sole claim to the Skerries. This act caused a great deal of embarrassment to Trinity House.

In 1834 when an attempt was made to purchase the patent for this lighthouse, the proprietor, Morgan Jones, asserted that under this Act he was absolved from any responsibility to sell.

For five years after the Lighthouse Act of 1836 was passed (which empowered Trinity House to obtain all private lighthouses by compulsory purchase), Morgan Jones refused to sell.

By 1841 the Skerries had become an extremely profitable light. However Morgan Jones finally agreed to abide by the decision of a jury, which stipulated the number of years he would have lost in light revenue. Based on possible profits over a period of 23 years and six months, the Skerries was finally purchased by Trinity House in 1841 for over Ł444,984. It was also the last privately owned lighthouse in the British Isles to be bought by Trinity House and the most expensive.

The original coal-burning grate which surmounted the tower was replaced in 1804 by an oil lamp, and was subsequently converted to electric operation in 1927. The lighthouse was converted to automatic operation and de-manned in 1987 and is now remotely monitored and controlled from The Trinity House Operations Control Centre at Harwich.

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