PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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Work started on the construction of the Mount Batten Breakwater in April 1878. It was promoted by the Cattewater Commissioners, who were responsible for managing the shipping in the Cattewater. The sides of the Breakwater up to low water mark were constructed with large concrete blocks, ranging in weight from 10 to 15 tons each. Above that it was just one solid concrete block nearly 2,000 feet in length. At every 160 yards there was a cross wall running upwards from the bottom, which binds the two parts together. All the stone for the construction came from the Commissioners' own quarry, which adjoi9ned the site. A parapet ran the full length of the Breakwater, three feet high at the eastern end rising to four feet high at the western end. At the landward end a house was built to for the watchman and to which the Commissioners were later to move their offices. It was protected by a sea wall. During the construction a temporary light was provided at the seaward end but in January 1881 this was to be replaced by a proper lighthouse, at a cost of £205. It was being built by Messrs Chance Brothers of Birmingham and would consist of a wrought iron service cabin, eight feet in diameter, with the lantern over at a height of some twenty feet from the base. The light would flash every five seconds. A winch was to be used to haul the lantern and a clock into poisiton. The depth at low water at the western end of the Breakwater was 22 feet 6 inches but it gradually reduced until at the landward end it was only 10 feet. By the time it was completed the Breakwater had cost some £20,000 but, as the Western Daily Mercury commented: 'Now that a pier-keeper has been appointed the Commissioners will at once levy tolls.' When the area around Mount Batten become an air station the Breakwater was closed to the public. Indeed, seaplanes used to be parked on top of the Breakwater. In the 1990s the Plymouth Development Corproation took over the area and the Breakwater was once more made accessible to Plymothians.
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