Pakefield
The forgotten lighthouse
1831-1864
A brief history.
If you ask the majority of East coast mariners they would
not have heard of Pakefield Lighthouse, in fact some life long residents of
Pakefield are unaware of its existence!
The continually shifting sandbanks of this part of the
coast make navigation very difficult between the Barnard and Newcome sand
banks. In July 1831 the committee of Trinity House Elder Brethren contracted
Richard Suter to design a lighthouse to assist ships through this narrow seaway
and Messrs James Taylor of Great Yarmouth was to build it. Their decision may,
well have been encouraged by the prospect of the new harbour at Lowestoft which
was to be opened on the 10th August 1831.
The lighthouse was erected in the grounds of Pakefield
Hall, 34 feet above sea level and it shone a red light that was visible for 9
miles. The final account for the whole establishment was £821. 9s.
4d. The light was first lit on 1 st May 1832. We know from an old Trinity House log book that in 1841 the light was in
the care of "Old Captain Goodwin, lately retired from the Jamaica
Trade."
An extract from an 1846 Sea Chart o f this coast showing the red light of Pakefield Lighthouse
Mother
Nature was in control of the Lighthouse's fate and as the sand banks and seaway
moved too far south, the light ceased to be an effective aid to shipping and so
it was finally extinguished on 1" December 1864.
Very
little is known about the lighthouse until well into the 20th century, it is
assumed that it remained derelict for over 50 years. Local newspapers reveal
that it was eventually sold to the owners of Pakefield Hall in 1929 for the sum
of £150. Os. Od.
Lighthouse Bar - Photographer's
darkroom.
It is
believed that part of the lighthouse and its attached cottages served as a bar
for the Pakefield Hall Holiday camp during the 1930's and in the 1960's it was
used as a darkroom by the Pontin's Holiday centre photographer.
Pakefield Coastwatch.
In
2000, with the kind permission of Pontin's, a group of local volunteers
renovated the lighthouse and transformed it into a Coastal Surveillance Station
Crazy Mary!
It is said that around 9
o'clock most evenings footsteps can be heard along Florence Road in Pakefield.
One brave person dared to go outside to unmask this phantom walker, but to no
avail, there was never anyone to be seen.
Crazy Mary's
bole!
There are many deep gullies, worn by the wind and the
rain, to be found in the cliffs along this part of the coast; but only one has
gained a name and reputation to last down the years. This is Crazy Mary's hole
and it is next to the Lighthouse.
Lost love !
Many years ago a woman named Mary, had a husband who
was a local fisherman, who went to sea one afternoon and never returned. Mary
in her grief walked along the cliff top every evening at about 9 o'clock,
hoping against hope that one day she would again see the sails of his boat on
the horizon.
Alas it was never to be
and the poor woman finally went mad with grief and walked down the gully which
still bears her name, into the sea, to join her husband.
"Ah,
mournful hollow, moaning sea, we men, whose fancies vary. Like shifting sands,
what right have we to speak of Crazy Mary ? "
So
runs an old poem by John Barcroft.
Ghostly
presence !
Although
much of the gully has been washed away by the sea, some say that on dark nights
the outline of Crazy Marv can still be seen on the cliff path, still wailing in
despair for the loved one who will never return. World War I saw a sentry
posted at the old gully mouth, for it was an obvious landing place for the
enemy, but rumour has it that they refused to stand guard alone because of a
ghostly presence. Similar stories persisted in World War II; was Mary still
keeping her lonely and hopeless vigil? Chances are that she was and probably
still is, for in 1981, late one night a Pontin's employee, saw a solitary
figure of a woman close to the lighthouse. As he approached the figure faded
and disappeared.....................
W.W.II
In
April 1938 the Royal Observer Corps, Group 14 Delta 4, reporting directly to
Bury St Edmunds H.Q., were stationed at the lighthouse. The roof was removed so
that any approaching aircraft or vessels could be clearly seen. Open to the
elements some of their watches could be cold and miserable but this tedium was
often relieved by chatting to A.T.S. girls billeted in the cottages at the
lighthouse. The holiday camp was used as a Transit camp for refugees and troops
of various nationalities.
,,/I// aerial photoraph in /be 1950's
There were a many
incidents during the war. The lighthouse was hit by machine gun fire during a
German air raid on Lowestoft, 12"h May 1943. One sad incident
over the lighthouse, 22nd April 1944, was an ambush by German ME 410 night
fighters, which shot down 9 US.A.E Liberator bombers as they returned home
late, after a German raid. In October 1944 a V1 flying bomb with a faulty
gyroscope was spotted 100 ft above the waves heading straight for the
lighthouse. With no time to call H.Q. the lookouts ran from the building only
to see the bomb plunge into the sea in front of them. Toward the end of the war
the 40mm Bofors batteries along these cliffs became very proficient at
shooting down V1 bombs, very few making it to their targets. Later the V11
launching sites were moved to Holland, red exhausts at night and vapour trails
in the day could be spotted over the Dutch coast and reported to H.Q., giving 4
minutes warning to London and other targets. The lookout was finally closed
late in 1945 and the lighthouse returned to the holiday camp.
Lighthouse Keepers.
1851 Census
William Rees
Thomas Freeman
Page Last Updated 17/09/2001