MARITIME HISTORY 



any two could cross their fire. Other fortifications placed during the Napoleonic war were East and 

 West Langley forts, each with six guns inclosed by loop-holed walls and with accommodation for 

 64 men ; temporary small batteries were thrown up at Greedygut, Eastbourne, Pevensey Walls, 

 and at Beachy Head and Seaford signal stations. 1 



The establishment of signal stations round the coast was commenced after the outbreak of 

 the Revolutionary War. Those at Fairlight, Beachy Head, Seaford Cliff, Hawk Hill (Brighton), 

 Worthing, Kingston (Littlehampton), Bognor, and Selsey Bill, were placed in 1795 ; and 

 Shoreham, Pagham, and West Wittering in I79&. 2 Shortly afterwards Galley Hill (Bexhill) and 

 Wall End (Pevensey) were added. 3 Each station was supplied with one red flag, one blue 

 pendant, and four balls of black painted canvas, stretched on hoops 3 ft. 4 in. in diameter. 



The earliest reference to lights and lighthouses in Sussex is of 1664, when John and William 

 Russell, Captain Silas Titus, and Colonel Edward Andrews obtained a licence to improve 

 Newhaven Harbour and set up lights, including one at Beachy Head. 4 This appears to have 

 brought ruin on the promoters. 6 The lighthouse patents granted by James I and Charles I had 

 proved so profitable to their owners, that after the Restoration many persons who possessed court 

 influence attempted to obtain others in any position where a light could with any justification be 

 placed. The licence of 1664 may have stalled off eager applicants, for Beachy does not appear 

 again until 1691, when Thomas Offley, the lord of the manor of Birling, petitioned that many 

 ships were lost yearly on the cliffs, and asked for a patent for a lighthouse. 6 This was, as usual, 

 referred to the Trinity House for consideration, and it may be taken as certain that, as usual, their 

 report was adverse, for, as commercial rivals, they invariably condemned every proposal to grant a 

 licence to a private owner. There is no application known to have been made during the eighteenth 

 century ; the influence of the Trinity House was then strong enough to prevent new grants being 

 made to private persons, and the Elder Brethren do not seem to have desired it for themselves. 

 The light must, however, have been badly wanted, seeing that Beachy Head was often mistaken for 

 the South Foreland, with fatal consequences. 7 The corporation was at last stimulated into action 

 by application (through the Admiralty) from Captain Harvey, R.N., in 1812, and Captain Mingaye, 

 R.N., in i826. 8 A temporary light was shown from i October, 1828 ; the patent for the 

 permanent lighthouse was dated 10 July, 1829, and it was built on ground given by Mr. Davies 

 Gilbert, being lit on 1 1 October, 1834.' The tower is 47ft. high, and the light 285 ft. above 

 high-water mark. It was a 22-mile light, but was soon found to have the defect of being frequently 

 enveloped in fog when the atmosphere was clear on the sea level. The fog difficulty has led to 

 the abandonment of the first lighthouse, and the construction of a new one on the foreshore at the 

 foot of the cliff, which was lit in 1902, and is connected by telegraph with Eastbourne. 



The Owers light-vessel was established by patent of 14 August, 1788, and in 1822 was 

 producing a net income of some ^2,000 a year. 10 In 1861 the then master had served on board 

 her for forty-two years ; it is remarkable that he had not sought an exchange, for she sometimes 

 rolled so badly that he could not lie down without holding on to something. The position of the 

 light-vessel was changed in August, 1857. " The Royal Sovereign lightship was placed in 1875, the 

 shoal being named after the Royal Sovereign, a first-rate, which went aground upon it in 1757. At 

 Rye, two lights put up by the corporation on the eastern side of the old harbour were existing in 

 the early part of the eighteenth century ; 1J that on the western side is of 1864. The two oldest 

 lights at Hastings, on the West Hill and on the beach, paid for by dues from the fishermen, date 

 from beyond memory ; that on the promenade pier is of 1872, St. Leonards pier light of 1891, and 

 Eastbourne pier 1872. The earliest Newhaven west pier lights are of about 1 809 ; 13 the modern lights 

 are the east pier 1862, breakwater lighthouse 1892, and west pier lighthouse 1895. The Rotting- 

 dean jetty light is of 1894, and that of Brighton Chain Pier 1824, but the pier was destroyed by a 

 gale 5 December, 1896 ; the Marine Palace Pier is of 1901. The exact date of the first 

 Shoreham lights is unknown, but they are shown on a chart of 1816, and as they were put up under 

 powers given to the local harbour commissioners by 56 Geo. Ill, cap. 81, they must be of about that 

 time ; u those of the east and west piers are of 1877. Worthing is of 1862, Littlehampton 1848, 

 and Bognor 1891. 



The first seamarks used in navigation were prominent objects ashore such as church towers and 

 high land. Fairlight Down must have been a recognized landfall in mediaeval times, for in the form of 

 ' Ferlaga ' it occurs in Spanish sailing directions of the middle-sixteenth century. Cackham tower 



1 W. O. Ord. Engineers, cxlvii. * Admir. Acct. Gen. Misc. Var. ex. 8 Admir. Sec. Misc. dxci. 



* Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. viii, App. 255 ; S.P. Dom. Chas. II, c, July, 1664. 



4 S.P. Dom. Chas. II, cliv, 92, 93 ; cccxiii, 9 Aug. 1672. 



6 Ibid. Win. and Mary, 1 8 Aug. 1691. ' Par/. Papers (1845), xvi, 88. 



8 Ibid. (1861), xxv, 413. ' Ibid (1834), xii, 104. 



10 Ibid. (1822), xxi, 497. " Ibid. (1861), xxv, 445. 



" Ibid. (1834), xii, 503 ; B.M. n Tab. xlii, n (a map). 13 Ibid. (1834), xii, 498. 14 Ibid. 



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