Pressure mounts to save Victorian lighthouses

The race to save two Victorian lighthouses has heated up after experts found they could be irreparably damaged within five years.

Corrosion has caused holes in the iron framework of the structures off Dovercourt, on the north-east Essex coast.

Tendring District Council admitted it was surprised to have a "short timeline" for works and pledged £330,000 to the project, expected to cost £3m.

Andy Schooler, chairman of the Harwich Society, said of the lighthouses: "The loss of them would hit people so, so badly."

They were built in the 1860s to guide ships around the Harwich peninsula and are thought to be the only pair of their kind remaining in England.

"'Iconic is a word that's perhaps overused today, but they really are iconic," said Mr Schooler, 71.

"Everyone in our own community wants to save them because they're all connected with them. They've been there for all their lives."

Historic England listed the structures and added them to its at-risk register in 2019.

The damage has mostly been suffered by each lighthouse's foundations, rather than the above-surface building, and they could collapse.

Conservationists were aware the repairs would cost millions of pounds, but surveys have now shown they only have three to five years to complete them.

Will Lodge, a communications manager at the council, said: "It was a little bit surprising that the experts think we have so little time.

"However, perhaps the short timeline is a really galvanising aspect to pull partners together and help protect these buildings."

The survey of the lighthouses - and the causeway that links the two - cost more than £55,000, with the vast majority paid for by Historic England.

Money leftover from a previous structural survey funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund was also used.

Tendring District Council said the £330,000 it was now pledging had come from developer contributions it had received.

Peter Kotz, the authority's Labour cabinet member for assets, said: "We know just how important the leading lights are to the local community.

"We are moving quickly to try to secure the funding needed to save these landmarks, which have perhaps immeasurable historic value."

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