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North Foreland, Kent

Historical Description

Foreland, North, a headland on the NE coast of Kent, between the Thames mouth and the Downs, 2½ miles ESE of Margate. It is the Cantium of Ptolemy. A lighthouse, a timber structure, was erected on it in 1636 by Sir J. Mel-drum, and was burnt in 1683. Another lighthouse, an octagonal two-storey structure, was then erected, but had merely an open grate of blazing coals. An improvement on the fire-beacon of that lighthouse was made in 1732, and two brick storeys surmounted by a domed, copper-coated, decagonal lantern were added to the structure itself ia 1790, and it was again altered in 1880. The light as now shown is an occulting one, white, red sector, stands at a height of 188 feet, and is visible over a distance of 20 miles.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

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