Contents

Introduction

From Prehistory to the Romans 13

Prehistory 13; Portus Dubris and Thanet 13; After the Romans 16; The Problem of Sand 17; The Conundrum of Sea Levels 21; The First Aids to Navigation 22; The Goodwin Sands in Culture 23

Early Navigational Lights

Birth of an Industry 29

Ecclesiastical Lights 29; The Industrial Age Begins 33; The First Navigational Lights 35; Coal 37; Candles 40; Glass And The Lighthouse Lantern 41

The Keeping of Lights

Birth of a Tradition 45

Through The Eyes Of A Child 45; How Did It All Start? 46; The Co-operatives 49; The Capitalist Motive 49; The Hunt for Details 50

Forelands Lighthouses

1600-1700 53

Letters Patent 56; The Osboldstons 57

Family Folklore

20th Century 61

A Question of Remembrance 61; Horner’s Weekly 65; Sources And Their Interpretation 68; The Wesleyan Methodist Magazine 68

William & Elizabeth

Early 18th Century 73

Keeping the Tradition Alive 73; In The Beginning 74; In Search Of The 18th c Knott Family At St. Margaret’s At Cliffe 75; The Knotts Of Acrise 79; A Marriage Of Uncertainty 80; The Knotts Of St. Margaret’s At Cliffe 82; A Typical Working Life 82

Henry & Judith

Second Half Of The 18th Century 85

Henry - The Next Generation 85; Advancing Technology - Ideas That Revolutionized Lights In The 18th and 19th Centuries. 87; An Old Light And A New Keeper 89; The Old Lights Are To Be Replaced 90; War With France, But The Lights Continue To Shine Brightly 93; Naval Activity Off The Coast 93; The New Technology Is Not So Bright 95; The Durrant Sketches 96; The Turner Sketches 98

Henry, Ann & Margaret

Early 19th Century 101

The Young Henry Marries  101; Old Henry Writes his Will 102; The Contents of Henry’s Estate 103; Another Keeper Is Found 104; Living With The Sea 104; The Lighthouse Is Put On The Map 105; Living With The Unexpected 105; Trinity House Makes Its Mark 106; The Census Enumerator Calls At Every House 109; A Question Of Ownership 110; The Keepers Face A Decade Of Upheaval 110; The New Lighthouses Arise, But Life Carries On 113; The New Lighthouses Attract Attention 114; James Walker  115; A Detailed Report From Inside the New High Lighthouse 116

Henry & Ann

mid-19th century 121

A Family Light in Yorkshire 121; Destination Yorkshire 122; A Magnificent Lighthouse 123; The Light Keepers Identified 124; One’s Company, Two’s a Crowd! 125; A Turn for the Worse 126; A Change in Direction 126; A New Keeper Arrives at Flamborough 127

George & Catherine

The Golden Age of Victoria 133

A Deplorable Event 134; The Knotts Occupy Both Lights 135; A Year Of Births And Deaths 136; The New Manning System Reaches The South Foreland Lights 136; Michael Faraday - Working Man’s Hero 138; Electric Magic 139; Henry And George Knott Meet Michael Faraday 142; A New Light In Cornwall Brings A Shock To The Family 142; The Lights Shine Out On Census Night 143; The Limelight At The South Foreland 144; Change Comes To South Foreland 145; Anyone Can Be Replaced 146; New Keepers Take Up Residence 147; The Man Who Built a Lighthouse 148; The End Approaches 149; The Keeper Who Already Knew About Electricity 151; Another Unusual Start In Life 152; George Avoids A Move 153; George Leaves The Family Light 153; New Surroundings, New Colleagues 154; The Romance Of The Most Famous Lighthouse In The World 155; Life On The Eddystone 156; A Year In The Life Of The Eddystone Lighthouse - 1863 158; A More Domestic Scene 159; Developments In Alma Cottages 160; Eddystone Revisited 1864 161; The Curious Tale Of A Name And An Earl’s Daughter 165

Exhibiting To The World

The Great Legacy Of Prince Albert 167

Showing The World What Can Be Done 167; The Genealogy of the Optic 171; The Man Who Made A Model Lighthouse 174; George’s Model Goes On Display 178; Touching the Past 181; The Lighthouse Becomes an Exhibition 182; A Final Thought 183

Leading Lights

South Foreland Becomes Experimental 189

Nature’s Lightning Is Tamed 189; Of Engines and Engineers 192; A New Baby For A New World 193; Transformative Times 194; A Piece Of Sunlight Poured Out Upon The Night  194; Foreign Competition Becomes Fierce 196; When Science Is Fogged 197; The Science of Fog and the Fog of Science 200; Major Elliott Describes The Keepers 204

A New Era For Light Keepers

Government Inertia 209; The Lighthouse Manifest 212; The Brave New World of Electricity 215; South Foreland Becomes A Permanent Test Bed 217; The Fog Returns 220; Electricity or Electrickery? 223

The Men Who Made Invention Work

A Churn Of Staff  229; These Crazy English! 232; That Curious Wall 236; A Flight Of Fancy 236; Now You See Him – Now You Don’t 238; Electric Light Tips 239; Engineers in Charge of Lighthouses 241; The Keepers Keep On Coming 244; Climate Change 246; The New World of Communication 247; Oh! Mister Marconi - How Wonderful! 248; The First Serious Messages 250; Wireless Signals by Day, but Light by Night 251

Henry T, Ellen & Sarah

Late 19th Century 255

Appledore, Shipyards And Three Brothers Named Knott 255; Induction into Trinity House 257; Holyhead and the Skerries Light 258; Families On The Skerries 259; A Slide Into Depression 262; The Man In The Middle 263; The Mistake That Led To Mucking 264; A Passage To India 266; A Brush With Death 268; If They Exist - A Word of Caution 268; Another Welsh Compromise 268; Comfortable Years At St. Ann’s Head 269; Clips From The School Log Book 271; A Light In The Midst Of A Storm 273; It’s Time To Think Of Leaving St. Ann’s 274; Little has Changed in Holyhead 275; A Second Bite at the Skerries 276; The Devon Years 1902 – 1908 277; Bull Point and One Last Move 280

Edmond & Alice

20th Century 283

An Ever-Changing Scene: 1901 - 1910 283; A Career Cut Short 286; Life has a New Order 290; A New Light Is In Place, But Is It Safe? 292; Last Man Out Turn Off the Light 295; The Cliff Remains a Danger 295; And Then There Were Four 297; The Old Lighthouse Tells a New Story 299; Postscript 301

North Foreland

Postcards - Public and Private 303; When “Romance” Was Differently Perceived 305; A Little Bit of History 306; Guiding Light Keepers 308; A Hidden Network Of Light Keepers 309; Snapshots of St. Ann’s Head 310; North Foreland Tower Is Unfit For Purpose 312; Returning to Kent From Devon 317; The Last Lighthouse For George 319; The End Days 320; A View Through The Ages 322; Signal Stations 323; Lloyd’s of London 323; A Bright Idea 324; Radio Navigation 325; Decca and Gee 329; DGPS 329

Retirement

The Retirement Years In Dover 1890 - 1900 331; Castlemount Road, Dover 332; A New Equilibrium 334; A Game of Domestic Chess 335; A Turning Point 336; Another Case of Who You Know? 337; The Pentside Chapel 338; From Beat to Banquet - a Knott Forgotten 341; The Queen is Dead – Long Live the King 342; Life in Dover Carries On 342; The Light Has Gone Out 344; The Twilight Years 345; From Pentside to Queen Street 346; The Knott Family Loses Its Matriarch 347; War With Germany 348

South Foreland In The 20th Century

Transformative Times 351; A Second-Hand Lens 352; Mercury 353; The Light 354; Piccadilly of the Sea  355; The Old Lighthouse has a New Owner  356; The Four Light Keepers of 1911  357; Dark Clouds Over Europe  358; The Onset Of War  359; Marconi’s Direction-Finding Antenna 362; An Intimate View 363

South Foreland in the 21st Century

A Magnificent Coastal Footpath 369; The High Light Of A Visit 374; Wartime Damage To The Optic 384; To The (Low) Lighthouse 385; Cliffe House And The Remains Of The Old Engine House 396

Afterword

Our Lighthouse Heritage 401

Appendix 1

The Goodwin Sands 407

Appendix 2

Timeline for North Foreland 412; Timeline for South Foreland 412

Index

Administration 416; Employment 418; Engineering 418; Events 422; History 423; Illumination 423; Keepers’ 425; Lighthouses 426; Locations 428; Optics 432; Ships 432; Social Context 433; Trinity House 435; People 435

The Last Word