The Mumbles are two islets which lie at the western extreme of Swansea Bay. In the Harbour Act of 1791, the Swansea Harbour Trustees were given the power to provide a lighthouse at the outer Mumbles. In July 1792 the Trustees contracted for the erection of the lighthouse and work began; however, within three months the half finished structure collapsed. In 1793 the plans of the local architect William Jernegan were accepted and the lighthouse was finally completed and lit in 1794.
The Mumbles originally displayed two open coal fire lights one above the other to distinguish it from St Ann's Head Lighthouse which had two lights on separate towers and Flatholm Lighthouse with one light. The coal lights in braziers were expensive and difficult to maintain so were quickly replaced with a single oil powered light consisting of argand lamps with reflectors within a cast iron lantern. The original two lights are still reflected in the two tier structure of the tower. The fort or battery which surrounds the southern side of the lighthouse was built in 1860 by the War Department.
Trinity House assumed responsibility for Mumbles Lighthouse from the British Transport Docks Board on 1 November 1975. In 1995 the Lighthouse was converted to solar powered operation, with solar module arrays being mounted in frames on the fort roof. A pair of biformed Tideland ML300 lanterns replaced the main light and a new emergency light, fog detector and control and monitoring equipment were installed. The latter is linked to the Trinity House Operations Control Centre at Harwich via a cellphone telemetry link.
Mumbles Head fort was constructed on the rock in 1860, in preparation for a potential invasion by Napoleon III of France. Although an attack never occurred, the fort housed a small battery of soldiers during the Second World War. Close to Mumbles Head is a 255 m (835 ft) wood and iron pier, built in 1898 as an entertainment's terminus for the Swansea and Mumbles Railway. Remnants of this railway allow its route to be traced along the coast road to Swansea.
By road: Follow A4067, Mumbles Road, from Swansea to its end. At low tide the lighthouse is accessible on foot from neighbouring Bracelet Bay, but low and high tide times need to be confirmed, due to the danger of being cut off from the mainland. Conversely, the lighthouse station can be reached by boat at high tide. It can in any case be readily seen from the shore.
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