New England Lighthouse Treasures

Lord Lightly and Lady Lighthouse cannot hook a buyer for their famous British Lighthouse located near the edge of 285-foot high Beachy Head. The Lighthouse was placed on the market for $1,666,851 (850,000 pounds) in May 2007.

After 8 months, Mark and Louise Roberts have lowered their sale price to $1,166,796 (£595,000). The Lighthouse family is hoping to sell their six-bedroom, open-plan sitting room, two tower room Aberdeen granite Grade-II Lighthouse home soon in order to find another extreme home in Australia.

Lord Lightly and Lady Lighthouse were also concerned about raising their three young children near the edge of the cliff. A walled garden does offer some safety. If you can afford this extreme dream home and don’t mind living near the edge of crumbling cliff erosion than you will enjoy breathtaking 360-degree views of the chalk cliffs and the scenic cliff top!

Last year, Rob Wassell established the Belle Toute Lighthouse Preservation Trust to purchase the Lighthouse with the goal of opening a Bed & Breakfast. According to a press release on Jan 10th, 2008, Mr. Wassel claims he needs to raise $294,000 (£150,000) to purchase the Lighthouse at the current Blue Light Special.

“This represents a truly exciting opportunity and is the closest chance yet that the trust has to acquire the lighthouse.”- Rob Wassell of the Trust

Seems like Falling Prices could be the ticket for the Preservation Trust to buy a Lighthouse threatened every 50 years with Falling into the English Channel below!

For a Map Location of the Lighthouse, please visit the Google Map of Belle Tout Lighthouse
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Lighthouse Background:

Mariners sailing the English Channel from France to Newhaven and possibly Portsmouth, England frequently were shipwrecked and met their final fate at the Chalk Cliffs of Doom called Beachy Head located in Eastbourne, Sussex, on the southern coast of England.

From the late 1600s to 1726, Parson Jonathan Darby single-handedly carved out a cavern in the cliff where he hung his lamp outside to warn sailors of the “Mariner’s Graveyard.” He saved the lives of 30 shipwrecked sailors before he died of pneumonia from the sea air.

The abandoned chamber was used by smugglers. Another 100 years passed without a Lighthouse until John Fuller, a member of Parliament, convinced Trinity House (similar to the American Lighthouse Service) to build a Lighthouse. A experimental temporary wooden Tower was First Lit on Oct 1, 1828.

The construction of the present Belle Tout Lighthouse began in 1829 and required teams of oxen to haul the large Aberdeen granite blocks. The Lighthouse was First Lit on Oct 11, 1834 exhibiting a Slow Flashing White Light illuminated by 30 Oil Lamps and Reflectors on an apparatus that revolved every two minutes 325-feet above sea level visible to a range of 20 nautical miles.

Despite the careful design of the Lighthouse to warn mariners about the Cliffs of Doom, shipwrecks continued because the engineers overlooked the poor location of their structure. Sea mists frequently shrouded the cliff top and obscured the Light!

The oversight was finally corrected 68 years later when Belle Tout Lighthouse was deactivated and replaced by Beachy Head Lighthouse at the foot of the cliffs on October 2, 1902.

Over the years, Belle Tout Lighthouse has had colorful history which includes Canadian troops shattering the 6-foot thick walls of the Lighthouse after missing their targets during World War II! Belle Tout Lighthouse was featured in the British TV film, “The Life and Loves of a She-Devil” in 1986 and the Lighthouse was sold to Paul and Shirley Foulkes after filming was completed.

In 1995, Belle Tout Lighthouse was placed on the market for £350,000 and purchased by Mark and Louise Roberts, Lord Lightly and Lady Lighthouse of the above news post, purchased the leasehold of the lighthouse in December 1996 for about £200,000 and later purchased the freehold of £900 from the Eastbourne Borough Council on March 6, 2001.

Mark Roberts, a Eastbourne councillor, may have negotiated a brilliant Blue Light Special that saved him £149,100! After buying the property, their Lighthouse was 15-feet from the 285-foot high cliff and in danger of crumbling down the cliff. Sea Erosion claimed 100-feet of the cliff after the Lighthouse was built in 1834.

The Roberts created the South Downs Lighthouse Trust, a charity to raise public donations to cover the £250,000 cost to move the lighthouse. The Lighthouse was moved 40-feet inland on March 17 and 18, 1999 by the Abbey Pynford company. Engineers estimate the new location should be safe for at least another 50-years.

Related News Source:
Beachy Head landmark for sale at knock-down price

Technorati Tags: lighthouse, Belle Tout Lighthouse Blue Light Special, Belle Tout Lighthouse, Eastbourne, Great Britain

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This entry was authored and posted by Debbie Dolphin on Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 at 12:23 pm and is filed under Preservation News, Real Estate. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Comments may be held for moderation, and I reserve the right to delete inappropriate or off-topic comments.