CHAP. III. WINSTANLEY'S AND KUDYEBD'S LIGHTHOUSES. 21 



kind master eventually placed him in a situation where 

 his talents could have better scope for exercise than in 

 his service, and he thus succeeded in laying the founda- 

 tions of John Hudyerd's success in life. We are not 

 informed of the steps by which he worked his way 

 upward, until we find him called from his silk-mercer's 

 shop to undertake the rebuilding of the Eddystone 

 Lighthouse. But it is probable that by this time he 

 had become known for his mechanical skill in design, 

 if not in construction, as well as for his thoroughly 

 practical and reliable character as a man of business ; 

 and that for these reasons, amongst others, he was 

 selected to conduct this difficult and responsible under- 

 taking. 



After the lapse of about three years from the destruc- 

 tion of Winstanley's fabric, the Brethren of the Trinity, 

 in 1706, obtained an Act of Parliament enabling them 

 to rebuild the lighthouse, with power to grant a lease 

 to the undertaker. It was taken by one Captain Lovet 

 for a period of ninety-nine years, and he it was 

 that found out and employed Mr. Rudyerd. His 

 design of the new structure was simple but masterly. 

 He selected the form that offered the least possible 

 resistance to the force of the winds and the waves, 

 avoiding the open galleries and projections of his pre- 

 decessor. Instead of a polygon he chose a cone for the 

 outline of his building, and he carried up the eleva- 

 tion in that form. In the practical execution of the 

 work he was assisted by two shipwrights from the King's 

 yard at Woolwich, who worked with him during the 

 whole time that he was occupied in the erection. 



The main defect of the lighthouse consisted in the 

 faultiness of the material of which it was built ; for, 

 like Winstanley's, it was of wood. The means em- 

 ployed to fix the work to its foundation proved 

 quite efficient; dove-tailed holes were cut out of the 

 rock, into which strong iron bolts or branches were 



