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Description: | Oil on canvas. The Eddystone Rocks at the western end of the English Channel, 23 kilometres from Plymouth, were sufficiently hazardous to prompt the construction of the world’s first offshore lighthouse. The initial wooden tower, built between 1696 and 1699 was swept away in a storm, together with its designer Henry Winstanley and his crew in 1703. A wood and iron replacement was completed in 1708 but was itself destroyed by fire in 1755. A third attempt was designed by John Smeaton (1724-1792), using a technique of dovetailed stones, which was to become standard. Smeaton’s lighthouse lasted for more than a century, from 1759. The lighthouse seen here, designed by James Douglass (1826-1898), was constructed in 1882, shortly before this view was painted.
HMS 'Vivid' appears to be a paddle steamer packet of the type which was often used in naval dockyards because of its shallow draught and manoeuvrability. The proximity of Plymouth Naval Dockyard suggests its possible base of operations. | Subjects: | topography paddle steamer seascape/coastal scene ensign (ship) rowing boat ship lighthouse oar HMS 'Vivid' man | Temporal: | 1885 | Source: | Government Art Collection | Creator: | Richard Brydges Beechey | Identifier: | http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/work.aspx?... | Go to resource |
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