Mumbles Lighthouse Island and its buildings
Mumbles Lighthouse in 1841
Drawn by W H Bartlet, engraved by W Mossman© W G ArchiveMumbles Hill ends in two islands separated by narrow sounds from the mainland. On the outer island (Mumbles Head) at the entrance to Swansea Bay are the Mumbles lighthouse built in 1793 and a fort erected in 1860 to protect against any French invasion during the Napoleonic Wars.
Mumbles Lighthouse and Telegraph Stattion, 1909
Mumbles Lighthouse and Headland
The causeway to Mumbles Lighthouse Island
The causeway to Mumbles Lighthouse Island was built in 1940 so as to enable supplies to be taken to the Lighthouse Island and was blown up in the 1970s, due to its effect on the tides in Swansea Bay. Today some remnants can still be located, at each end of the causeway as well as alongside the Middle Island. The island was very crowded with buildings and the local Territorial Army demolished most of the structures on the lighthouse Island in 1964 & 5. The ruined Keepers Cottage is one of the few structures to survive clearance.
The Guns of Mumbles Lighthouse Island
Gunners from the Royal Artillery manned the 4.7-inch guns, along with men from the Home Guard. Additional specialists manned the two searchlights which were mounted in emplacements on either side of the island.
The Searchlight Emplacements
Photo collage includes: A searchlight emplacement, before Mumbles Lighthouse and Fort, the engine house and the second searchlight post.
The two searchlight emplacements on Mumbles Lighthouse Island were powered by electricity generated in the engine house.
The late eighteenth and early nineteenth century defences on Mumbles Head
More: In the Defence of Mumbles and Swansea before 1918 by Carol Powell
(The Swansea History Journal, 2011-12