Standing proud since 1898, St Mary’s Lighthouse is one of the North East’s most loved landmarks.
The History of St Mary’s Lighthouse
In the 11th century St Mary’s Island was home to a monastic chapel where monks maintained a lantern in the tower to protect passing ships from the dangers of the rocks around. Then in 1664 the first lighthouse was built using the stones from the chapel building. This lighthouse stud guard on the coastline until 1898 when the current lighthouse was built.
The current lighthouse and cottages were built by a local construction company based in Tynemouth. The lighthouse had a paraffin fueled first-order ‘bi-valve’ rotating optic fitted and did not become electrified until 1977.
7 years later St Mary’s lighthouse was decommissioned. And 2 years after that it was given a blue plaque to honour its history. Following this the council opened the Lighthouse as a visitors centre and in 2011 following the closure of the Penzance lighthouse museum, the original lens was returned to be put on display. And so became the landmark we all love!
Artwork
This stunning white spherical building is a loved subject for many of our artists and it seems a loved subject for many of you. We all have fond memories of visiting St Mary’s Lighthouse so we’ve asked a few of our artists to tell us what inspired their paintings!
Whitley Bay Winter By Stuart Jones
Whitley Bay in Winter was painted in December 2021 with a soft diffused light on the day. Stuart caught a glimpse of a woman looking out at the sea and knew instantly that she would form a major part of the composition. Stuart really enjoyed how this figure complimented the structure of St. Mary’s Lighthouse in the background. The mood feels quite contemplative and invites you to imagine what she could be thinking. Costal subjects are a particular favourite of Stuart’s and give him a constant source of inspiration because of their changing nature.
St Mary’s New Dawn by Matt Hale
Living near the coast Matt Hale never gets bored of this perfect view. In the summer of 2015 he saw this beautiful sunrise at St Mary’s Lighthouse. Taken around 5a.m. it was gloriously warm and perfect to sit on the rocks and eat breakfast.
Morning Glory over St Mary’s Lighthouse by Trevor Craggs
Trever doesn’t often paint distinctive landmarks but he will always make an exception for St Mary’s Lighthouse. Featuring in several paintings by Trevor this specific painting was created after a splendid morning walk along the sea front.
St Mary’s Sunrise by Sarah Farooqi
Sarah absolutely loves St Mary’s Lighthouse, she has a lot of happy memories spending time visiting the lighthouse with her family. This painting is actually Sarah’s second painting of St Mary’s. Here she has spoken about the painting and her love of the lighthouse https://youtu.be/UIV6CPJUA8s
