Portland Bill Lighthouse - 1255-245156

Portland Bill Lighthouse is a functioning lighthouse at Portland Bill, on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. The lighthouse and its boundary walls are Grade II Listed.As Portland's largest and most recent lighthouse, the Trinity House operated Portland Bill Lighthouse is distinctively white and red striped, standing at a height of. The tower is approximately 114 feet. The lighthouse was completed by 1906 and first shone out on 11 January 1906. Portland Bill Lighthouse guides passing vessels through these hazardous waters as well as acting as a waymark for ships navigating the English Channel.HistoryThe two original lighthouses, now known as the Old Higher Lighthouse and Old Lower Lighthouse, operated as a pair at Portland Bill. They were constructed in 1716, both rebuilt in 1869, and decommissioned following the completion of the present lighthouse. At the turn of the 20th-century, Trinity House put forward plans for the building of a new lighthouse at Bill Point, to replace both of the lighthouses. Trinity House acquired the required land at the Bill in 1903.In October 1903 the builders Wakeham Bros. of Plymouth began work on the foundations. Chance & Co of Birmingham supplied and fitted the lantern. The lighthouse was completed in 1905, at a cost of £13,000, and the lamp first lit on 11 January 1906. On 18 March 1996 the lighthouse was demanned, with all monitoring and control transferred to the Trinity House Operations & Planning Centre in Harwich.Tourist attractionAs Portland's prime attraction, the Portland Bill Lighthouse is open for tours and has a visitor centre, housed in the former lighthouse keeper's quarters. The original centre closed in September 2013 due to lack of funding, however a new renovated centre opened in 2015. The tours operated at the lighthouse last approximately 45 minutes, and visitors are able to climb the 153 steps to the top of the lighthouse.

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