We recently received the following email through our enquiries@thls.org helpdesk, and we thought it was such a good question that we ought to post the response for all to see on this blog:
“Please would it be possible to publish some interior photos of the rock lighthouses on your website. It would be very interesting to see what the interiors are/were like, particularly as these will never be seen by the general public and it helps to imagine the way the keepers lived. For all of us who have an interest in lighthouses and their history it would be marvellous to be able to see some photos.”
We hope the following images taken from the Trinity House archives will be of interest to all!
Bishop Rock Lighthouse bunk beds
Bishop Rock Lighthouse service room in 1980
Bishop Rock Lighthouse kitchen in 1975
Longstone Lighthouse living room as it was rebuilt in 1951
Longstone Lighthouse keepers’ dwellings bedroom furniture
Of course, the lighthouses of Trinity House are now unmanned, and are typically uninhabited, except for visits by our technicians and engineers. Here is an example of a room—albeit a particularly and untypically bright one!—left uninhabited for many years:
Bardsey Lighthouse keepers’ cottages as they are after years of disuse
Finally, a beautiful view from the inside of the Eddystone Lighthouse, looking out to sea:
View from Eddystone Lighthouse stairs
Trinity House History 