Lighthouses of England

Lighthouses of England

Smeaton's Tower, Plymouth Hoe

Smeaton's Tower is the highlight of a visit to Plymouth Hoe. This is the original tower, built on the Eddystone reef in 1756-59. It was removed to Plymouth How in 1882-84 when the present tower on the Eddystone was constructed. The bottom section of the cone (represented by the bottom red band) is not original because Smeaton built his lowest section of dovetailed granite blocks and it was too difficult to take them apart. They were left behind to form the present stump, and a new bottom section was fabricated to provide a base for the top sections of the lighthouse to fit upon.