2 December 2008

This day in history:
On 2nd December 1755 the second of the Eddystone lighthouses was completely destroyed by fire.94 year old Henry Hall, the keeper of the watch that night, did his best to put out the fire by throwing water upwards from a bucket. The fire was observed from the shore by a Mr. Edwards, 'a man of some fortune and more humanity'. The old account says he sent off a boat which arrived at the lighthouse at 10 a.m. after the fire had been burning for 8 hours. The sea was too rough for the boat to approach the rock so they threw ropes and dragged the keepers through the waves to the boat. The lighthouse continued to burn for 5 days and was completely destroyed. read more