page_title: Farne Islands
section_title: Lighthouses
hierarchical_section_title: Farne Islands / Today / Lighthouses
caption_attribution_description: English: Remins of Peel tower, Staple Island
context_page_description: The Farne Islands are a group of islands off the coast of Northumberland, England. There are between 15 and 20 islands depending on the state of the tide. They are scattered about 1 ¹⁄₂ to 4 ³⁄₄ miles from the mainland, divided into two groups, the Inner Group and the Outer Group. The main islands in the Inner Group are Inner Farne, Knoxes Reef and the East and West Wideopens and the Megstone; the main islands in the Outer Group are Staple Island, the Brownsman, North and South Wamses, Big Harcar and the Longstone. The two groups are separated by Staple Sound. The highest point, on Inner Farne, is 62 feet above mean sea level.
context_section_description: The first lighthouse was built on the islands in 1773; prior to that a beacon may have been installed on Prior Castell's Tower, permission having first been given for a light on Inner Farne in 1669.
  There are currently two lighthouses operated by Trinity House on the Farne Islands:
  Farne Lighthouse
  Built in 1811 and originally named Inner Farne Lighthouse
  Longstone Lighthouse
  Built in 1826 and originally named Outer Farne Lighthouse.
  Former lighthouses on the islands include:
  Farne Island Lighthouse (built in 1673 but never lit; replacement built by Captain John Blackett in 1778, itself replaced by Trinity House with the current Farne Lighthouse in 1811)
  A minor light was also established by Trinity House on the north west of Farne between 1811 and 1910.
  Staple Island Lighthouse (built by Captain Blackett in 1778 and blown down in the Great Storm of 1784; a replacement, built either in the same place or on Brownsman Island, was knocked down by heavy seas in 1800)
  Brownsman Lighthouse (built in 1800, replaced by Trinity House with a new tower in 1811 and closed in 1826 when Longstone Lighthouse was established)
  All the operational lighthouses on the Farnes are now automatic and have no resident keepers, although in former years they did. The lighthouse is now maintained by Trinity House via its local lighthouse attendant, George Shiel, who provides guided tours inside the lighthouse. Ruins of some of the older lighthouses may be seen: for example on the Brownsman, where there are two. Before the lighthouses there were beacons on several of the islands. The prominent white streak on the cliff facing the mainland (see photo) is often thought by visitors to be bird droppings: although many parts of the islands do exhibit this colouring, in this case it is the result of chalk deposits from the many years of spent calcium carbide from the lighthouse being thrown down the cliff; this calcium carbide was used to generate acetylene which was used as fuel for the light before electricity came.
caption: Ruined base of the lighthouse on Staple Island[7]
exif: {}