The Maidens lighthouses, Two offshore lighthouses in County Antrim, Northern Ireland
The Maidens lighthouses are two separate towers built on a group of rocks in the North Channel, off the coast of County Antrim in Northern Ireland. The East Tower is the taller of the two and the only one still in operation today.
Both towers were built in 1829 by the Ballast Board after local merchants and Admiral Benjamin Hallowell Carew called attention to the dangers these rocks posed for ships passing through the North Channel. It was one of the early steps to improve navigation safety along this stretch of coast.
The rocks on which the towers stand are known as the Maidens, a name that appears on old sea charts to mark this group of hazardous outcrops in the North Channel. Sailors and fishermen in the area still use this name today.
The towers stand on rocks in the sea and cannot be reached from land, so anyone wanting a closer look will need to arrange a boat trip. The best views come from the water on a clear day, when the outline of both towers stands out against the sea.
The West Tower was taken out of service in 1903, yet the East Tower kept human keepers until 1977, meaning the two towers ran side by side for over seven decades with very different purposes. This long overlap between an active and an abandoned tower in the same spot is rarely noticed by those who see them from the water.
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