38 SMEATON'S LIGHTHOUSE ON THE EDDYSTONE. PART YF. 



summer of 1757, sheers having been erected and the 

 first stone, of two and a quarter tons weight, having 

 been landed and securely set in its place on the morning 

 of Sunday the 12th of June. By the evening of the 

 following day the first course of four stones was safely 

 laid. 1 The work then proceeded from time to time, as 

 the weather permitted ; and the second course, of thir- 

 teen pieces, was completed by the 30th of the same 

 month. The workmen were occasionally interrupted by 

 ground-swells and heavy seas, which kept them off the 

 rock for days together. At length, on the sixth course 

 being laid, it was found that the building had been raised 

 above the average wash of the sea, and the progress 

 made after that time was much more rapid. From 

 thence the rest of the structure was raised in regular 

 entire courses. 



The manner in which the stones were prepared in the 

 yard, arranged in courses, and brought off in the vessels, 

 so that they could be landed in their proper order and 

 fixed in their proper places, was simple and effective. 

 When the separate pieces of which a course was to con- 

 sist were hewn, they were all brought together in the 

 work-yard, fitted upon the platform in the exact sites 

 they were to occupy in the building, and so marked 

 and numbered that they could readily be restored to 

 their proper relative positions. So much preliminary 

 care having been taken, no difficulty or confusion 

 occurred in the use of the materials, whilst the pro- 

 gress of the building was also greatly accelerated. 

 For the actual details of the manner in which the 

 masonry was proceeded with, we must refer the pro- 

 fessional reader to Smeaton's own ' Narrative,' which 



1 The sloping form of the rock, to 

 which the foundation of the building 

 was adapted, required but this small 



creasing until it reached the upper 

 level of the rock. Thus the second 

 course consisted of thirteen pieces, the 



number of stones for the lower third of twenty-five, and so on. 

 course ; the diameter of the work in- 



