Dovercourt Upper Lighthouse (EHER 57)

The more inshore of a pair of iron lighthouses built in 1863 (see EHER 56 for seaward lighthouse). The inner lighthouse stands to a height of 15 metres whilst the outer lighthouse is shorter by about 4 metres. The causeway between the two lighthouses measures some 150 metres in length and 4 metres in width, with a central avenue of stone flags set over a rubble core and retained to either side by sloping stone facings. The lighthouses, commissioned by Trinity House in 1862 and completed in 1863, served to guide ships towards Harwich harbour (some 1.5km to the north); their different heights enabling the two lights to be aligned on approach. They replaced two late 18th century lighthouses at Harwich which had become unreliable due to shifting sand bars around the mouth of the Stour estuary. A comprehensive pattern of marker boys in the harbour approach rendered the new lights obsolete in 1917. The lights escaped demolition, but gradually deteriorated through lack of maintenance. A major programme of restoration took place between 1983 and 1988.

The more inshore of a pair of iron lighthouses built in 1863 (see EHER 56). <1> - <5> They were built in 1863 using the newly invented screwpile construction. The upper light is on six corroded piles. <6> Other references: <7> <8> Site Management: After 1917 when the lighthouse became disused, Trinity House sold it to Harwich Borough Council. <1> By the time of scheduling in 1975 Tendring District Council were the owners. <2> A report on its condition showed it was deteriorating rapidly. <4> However nothing seems to have been done by 1980. <3> Consent was granted for repairs in 1985. <9> The lighthouses were recorded from the air in 2024 during a relatively low tide so the seaward structure was clearly visible along with the below water elements of the moment <12> Information from NRHE (TM 25283083) Upper Lighthouse (disused) (NAT) (TM 25463081) Lower Lighthouse (disused) (NAT) <13> TM 308253 Navigation lights just off shore at Dovercourt Harwich were constructed in the later half of the 19th century to mark the main channel entrance, to Harwich Harbour, which has now been superseded. (The author has transposed the grid reference figures, they should read TM 253 308.) <14> Dovercourt Lighthouses. Built in 1863, by order of Trinity House, to replace the old Harwich lights, which were no longer functioning efficiently owing to the shifting of the channel in Harwich Harbour. They were built in the then newly invented screwpile construction. In 1917 a comprehensive scheme for marking Harwich Harbour approach by lighted buoys resulted in the Dovercourt lights being discontinued. <6> Scheduled listing. <15> Information from English Heritage Schedule Entry <16> Two iron framed lighthouses set about 200 metres apart at either end of a stone causeway which projects into Dovercourt Bay from the sea wall opposite the Phoenix Hotel on Marine Parade. The inner lighthouse stands to a height of 15 metres whilst the outer lighthouse is shorter by about 4 metres. The causeway between the two lighthouses measures some 150 metres in length and 4 metres in width, with a central avenue of stone flags set over a rubble core and retained to either side by sloping stone facings. The lighthouses, commissioned by Trinity House in 1862 and completed in 1863, served to guide ships towards Harwich harbour (some 1.5km to the north); their different heights enabling the two lights to be aligned on approach. They replaced two late 18th century lighthouses at Harwich which had become unreliable due to shifting sand bars around the mouth of the Stour estuary. A comprehensive pattern of marker boys in the harbour approach rendered the new lights obsolete in 1917. The lights escaped demolition, but gradually deteriorated through lack of maintenance. A major programme of restoration took place between 1983 and 1988. <13> - <16> Recorded by NRIM. <17>