Severn Boy

This is the lighthouse that deters sailors from wandering on to the sands. Below is the lowdown from Trinity House, the organisation that takes care of all the UK's lighthouses and buoys.


Nash Lighthouse was designed by James Walker, the Engineer-in-Chief to Trinity House, in 1832 to mark the sandbanks off the point at the entrance to the Bristol Channel. The decision to build it followed a public outcry after the passenger steamer FROLIC was wrecked with heavy loss of life in 1830.

Two circular towers were built each with massive walls and a stone gallery. The eastern, or high lighthouse being 37 metres high and the western or low lighthouse 25 metres high. Placed 302 metres apart they provided leading lights to indicate safe passage past the sandbanks. The high light was painted with black and white stripes and the low light was white. In those days both towers showed a fixed light which was either red or white depending on the direction from which a vessel approached. The red sector marked the Nash Sands.

The low light was abandoned early this century and the high light was modernised and painted white. In place of the fixed light a new first order catadioptric lens was installed which gives a white and red group flashing.

Nash is one of those lighthouses scattered around our coast that has no claim to fame. For over 160 years its light has done its job as a sign to mariners to keep them clear of danger, its sole distinction is the discovery in 1977 of the tuberous thistle (Cirsium Tuberosum), a rare plant, which was found growing around the lighthouse.

Specifications

Established	1832
Height Of Tower	37 Metres
Height Of Light Above Mean High Water	56 Metres
Automated	July 1998
Electrified	1968
Lamp	1500 Watt
Optic	1st Order 920 Mm Catadioptric, Fixed Lens, 2 Reinforcing Panels For Red Sectors
Character	White And Red Group Flashing Twice Every 15 Seconds
Intensity	140,000 Candela
Range Of Light	21 nautical miles (White Sectors)		http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk

---