Sea Mark, Portland Bill

A sea mark is an aid to navigation, usually to warn of a hazard and sometimes to mark a channel. They can feature a light, an easily seen prominence, a foghorn or be painted in a prominent colour. This sea mark in the form of an obelisk is at the tip of Portland Bill, an island that projects into the English Channel. The initials T.H. denote Trinity House who had it erected here in 1844 as an addition to two old lighthouses that were later replaced.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Portland Bill lighthouse

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Portland Bill is a tip of land at the south end of the Isle of Portland. It sticks out into the English Channel and is the southermost point of the county of Dorset. Portland Bill's low, rocky limestone cliffs have long been a danger to shipping and the Romans used beacons to warn vessels of their presence. The first permanent lighthouses built there date from the early 1700s. In 1844 an obelisk daymark was erected and is still there. The tall red and white painted lighthouse we see today shone its light for the first time in 1906. It remains active today, though is fully automatic rather than permanently manned.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

The Eastnor obelisk

The word "obelisk" is the Greek name given to the Egyptian "tekhenu", a tall, four-sided, tapering column with a pyramidal top, that was inscribed with writing commemorating significant events. Not only did the Greeks (and Romans) copy this architectural form, they took many Egyptian examples and placed them in their cities. This happened in later times too: Cleopatra's Needle in London is an example. The obelisk near Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire, is 90 feet (27.4 metres) high and is placed on a hill to make it widely visible. It is the work of the architect, Sir Robert Smirke, and commemorates the death of the castle's then owner's son, Lt. Col. E. C. Cocks, at the siege of Burgos, Spain, in 1812.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2