LAND HO!
The Mount was a key landmark for ships at sea. Captain Denham designed the navigational system that opened up the port of Fleetwood. He created three lighthouses to guide incoming ships to the new Port of Fleetwood through the dangerous shoals and sand banks of the Wyre Estuary.
The Wyre Light was placed on the North Wharf Sandbank, where the estuary meets the Lune Deep. The ship's navigator would line up the Wyre Light with two more lighthouses in Fleetwood, the Lower Lighthouse and the Pharos Lighthouse, situated in the roads half a mile inland. By keeping the lighthouses in a straight line, the ships were guided into port.
The lighthouses were commissioned on 1st December 1840. A ship carrying Peter Hesketh and guests fired a rocket to signal, and the lighthouses were switched on for the first time.
The Wyre Light was designed by Alexander Mitchell, a blind engineer from Belfast. Iron piles were screwed into the seabed on top of which a metal platform and wooden house were built. A light room was also built to hold the powerful Wyre light which could be seen 10 miles out to sea. The legs are all that remain of Wyre Light today. The light itself is on display at the Fleetwood Museum!
Can you navgiate the seas? - try the 'Navigating Fleetwood' acitivty sheet (download link below).
