The Light on the Hudson

by Dana Ferry

published by Ithaca Press

Henry Winstanley, Gent.: Whimsical Engineer

Henry Winstanley was the brilliant builder of the first Eddystone Lighthouse near Plymouth, England. Winstanley possessed both an artistic and mechanical mind and he may have been influenced by his uncle, Will Winstanley. While touring Europe, he became passionate about continental architecture. Henry Winstanley’s creative mind bore the design and construction of the Eddystone Lighthouse among other imaginative pursuits.

Not much is known of Winstanley’s youth. He was born in 1644 in Saffron-Walden Essex, England. He explored Europe from 1669-1674 and while there was attracted to the art of engraving. When Winstanley returned home he studied engraving with Wenceslas Hollar. A few years later Winstanley produced a detailed set of architectural engravings of Audley End House where his father was land steward to the Earl of Suffolk, the owner of the house. Because of Winstanley’s artistic prowess he designed a set of educational playing cards that were crowd-pleasers. The cards were brimming with facts about geography, mathematics and Latin. Additionally, Winstanley painted and his self-portrait hangs in the Saffron-Walden Museum today.

Winstanley was similar to a child with toys as he played with gadgets of all kinds. His house in Littlebury contained whimsical mechanisms inside and out, including distorting mirrors, trick chairs, a windmill in the garden and a turnstile at the entrance gate. Called the “Essex House of Wonders,” it became a legendary landmark and was visited frequently. In the 1690s, Winstanley established a mathematical water theatre in London’s Piccadilly. It was appropriately named “Winstanley’s Waterworks.”

Winstanley’s prosperity enabled him to invest money into five large ships. When two of these ships crashed into the Eddystone rocks, Winstanley’s frustration drove him to a decision to construct a lighthouse on the devastating site. Winstanley had numerous critics who claimed it could never be done. These remarks only motivated him more. The lighthouse, built of Cornish granite and wood, featured a glass lantern room where burning candles provided the beacon into the waters. It was completed in November of 1698 when Winstanley climbed the tower and lit sixty tallow candles. As long as Winstanley’s lighthouse was on the rock, no ships were wrecked. However, Winstanley often professed a hope of being inside the Eddystone Lighthouse during a major storm. Winstanley’s fine design led him to believe that the lighthouse could withstand anything.

Daniel Defoe, a young journalist at the time of the Great Storm in November 1703, wrote of chimney stacks being blown down in London, hundreds of tiles ripped off rooftops and hay that flew loose in the air like feathers. A woman and child standing outside were blown away by the wind. Such was the weather when Winstanley headed to his Eddystone Lighthouse after being warned about the danger by the local fishermen.

Late in the evening of November 26, 1703, the candles were still lit at the Eddystone. Winstanley was supervising repairs. By the next morning, the tower could not be seen. The storm had pushed the lighthouse into the ocean. Neither Winstanley, his boatman, the keepers or any remains of his lighthouse were ever found. His playful and creative ideas went forever into the sea with him, but Henry Winstanley’s ingenuity, bravery and determination gave England the first Eddystone Lighthouse, whose legacy lives today.

For more information about Henry Winstanley, visit www.DanaFerry.com.