h
Granite. Thus the foundation was of oak as far as two courses above
the top of the rock, then five courses of stone were added, of a foot
each in thickness, and these were kept together and secured by cramps
of iron. Two more courses of timber then followed, and thus was
finished the entire solid portion of the basement.

Rudyerd's lighthouse was begun in July 1706, and completely finished
in 1709. The entry door was full eight feet above the highest part of
the rock, and therefore an iron ladder of great strength was employed
as the mode of ascent. The floor of the store-room was laid at the
height of twenty-seven feet above the rock. Four rooms, one above
another, and the lantern, with its balcony, completed the edifice. The
main column of the building consisted of one simple figure, being an
elegant frustum of a cone, unbroken by any projecting ornament, or any
thing whereon the violence of the storms could lay hold, being,
exclusive of its sloping foundation, twenty-two feet eight inches upon
its largest circular base; sixty-one feet high above that circular
base; and fourteen feet three inches in diameter at the top. The whole
edifice, with the exception of the courses of granite at the base,
which may be regarded as ballast, was composed of timber, skilfully
joined and fitted, and exhibiting an excellent specimen of
shipwrights' work. All the window-shutters, doors, &c. were so formed
as when shut to fall in with the general surface, without making any
unevenness or projection. The only projecting parts in the whole
building were a simple cornice nine inches wide, for the protection of
the windows of the lantern, which could not of course be defended by
shutters, and another cornice of similar width at the base, which
filled up the angle between the upright timbers of the building and
the sloping surface of the rock. The lantern was an octagon of ten
feet six inches in diameter, externally, and above it, was a ball of
two feet three inches diameter. The whole height of the lighthouse,
from the lowest side to the top of the ball, was ninety-two feet.

Rudyerd's lighthouse stood in need of no material repairs for some
years; but at length the upright timbers were considerably damaged by
the attacks of a small worm, and were consequently subject to
extensive reparation. For many years after the establishment of the
lighthouse, it was attended by two light-keepers only, whose duty it
was to keep the windows of the