 |
| La Corbiere in the distance looking west
The small rocky tidal island of La Corbiere is located on the south west tip of Jersey. It can be reached by a half mile long concrete causeway for at
least 2 hours either side of low tide. Apparently a siren sounds when
the causeway is about to be covered by the incoming tide.
The lighthouse on La Corbiere was constructed in 1873 and it was the first lighthouse in the world to be built of reinforced concrete rather than stone. In clear weather the light can be seen from 18 miles away. The lighthouse was designed by the engineer Sir John Coode. Until 1965 the light was a vaporised paraffin lamp. During the German Occupation the light was switched off most of the time and only lit when the Germans needed to guide their own ships around the rocks.
Before the construction of the lighthouse there were many shipwrecks on these rocks. In 1495 a Spanish ship carrying a cargo of wine foundered and in 1859 the Royal Mail Steam Packet was wrecked on the rocks.
A plaque adjacent to the causeway commemorates the lighthousekeeper Peter Edwin Larbalestier who drowned in 1946 while trying to rescue a holidaymaker who had been cut off by the tide while crossing the causeway. The lighthouse has been automated since the 1976.
The name Corbiere means "the place where crows gather".
|
The road down to the causeway at La Corbiere
Causeway to La Corbiere
This is as near to the lighthouse as you can get unless you are on a guided tour
La Corbiere Lighthouse
The causeway to La Corbiere Lighthouse
The long and winding causeway
High tide at La Corbiere
No comments:
Post a Comment