The Eddystone or Eddystone Rocks are a seaswept and eroded group of rocks ranging southwest of Rame Head in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Although the nearest point on the mainland to the Eddystone is in Cornwall, the rocks fall within the city limits of Plymouth, and hence within the county of Devon. The stub of the Smeaton lighthouse still remains on the rocks.

The reef, inclusive of the area between the Devon coastline and Start Point, is home to many different fauna that have been the subject of scientific studies from 1895 to the present day. One particular study in 2012 investigated the relationships between the environment of the rocks and bottom deposits and marine inhabitants, with particular emphasis on rare specimens of gobies.

History

300px|thumb|Painting depicting HMS Forte sailing past the [[Eddystone Lighthouse (background)]]

During the years 1877 to 1878, a correspondence between the Corporation of Trinity House to the Board of Trade was engaged in order to discuss the possible destruction of the reef as opposed to restoring the Eddystone Lighthouse. At the time, the tides had washed away the rocks below the lighthouse, raising concern for the stability of the structure itself. Due to the pressing economical and architectural issues, this correspondence discussed the proposal put forward by engineer T, P. Aston to blast the rocks away to allow ships to pass through into the English Channel, thereby rendering the presence of a lighthouse unnecessary.

Economically, consultant engineer Jas. N. Douglass estimated that the amount of rock to be cleared to achieve a safe minimum depth for navigation of ships was '1 millions of tons'. His concern in this estimate was the Eddystone reef rocks. According to Douglass, approximately an additional 'quarter-million tons' would need to be excavated from a neighboring area, Hand Deeps. The cost of the blasting and removal of these rocks was estimated to be 'no less than £500,000. However, a counterproposal to reinforce the rocks surrounding the lighthouse and to improve the structure of the architecture itself 'could not be executed for less than £120,000, and the time required to complete this work was complicated by the small window of opportunity the tides offered around the Eddystone reefs.

In the final letters of correspondence, Robin Allen of Trinity House confirmed that they as a corporation were not in a position to expend any 'public money [to] do away with such a sea-mark' as the Eddystone'. The rocks in question, known for being a maelstrom of churning waves and leaping spray, are unique in being the location of the first rock lighthouse in the world. Although the 'buffetings of wind and waves' have continually eroded the rocks around the structures on the Eddystone, constant repairs, and the construction over time of sturdier and more structurally sound lighthouses, has meant that the Eddystone remains intact.

In these areas, Allen's findings indicated a prevalence in fauna due to the environment created by the composition of the bottom deposit (sand, fine gravel, and root-fibers) as well as the untouched reef deep below the surface. The samples collected from the water identified the tintinnids Helicostomella subulata, Stenosemella otiva, S. ventricosa, Tintinnopsis beroidea, T. cylindrica and T. lata.

In 2012, Lin Baldock and Paul Kay conducted research on the presence of rare Gobies in the waters between the Eddystone Reef and the coastline of Plymouth, Devon, namely Gobius gasteveni (Steven's goby).

Geology

Isotopic ages suggest that the last period of deformation of the rocks exposed at the Eddystone Rocks was during the end of the Devonian period, but their highly metamorphosed state indicates they likely have an older ancestry, a relic of earlier tectonic activity, probably of Precambrian age. According to a study conducted by D. Robinson in 1981, the main mineral composition of the surrounding area is quartz-muscovite-chlorite, paragonite and albite. The pressure systems differ in the northern (higher pressure system) and southern (lower pressure system) schist boundary. Robinson concluded that this difference impacts the facies series of metamorphic rocks, yet not enough to constitute a suture marking a Variscan subduction zone. In order to collect the data, Derek Johnson & Timothy J. Lack used mussels, which were left for 60 days at 15 test sites along the ocean bed. The mussels were then dissected, their digestive glands removed to then be 'mounted on a cryostat chuck by supercooling in hexane at - 70°C'. This means that under Article 13, the rocks themselves, since they can't sustain human habitation or economic life of its own, are not treated like other maritime areas in the legal constitutions of ownership.

  • 'South Devon's Shipwreck Trail' by Jessica Berry
  • "The Eddystone Light", a traditional sea-shanty, chronicles a fictional encounter between the lighthouse keeper and a mermaid. The Seekers, the Weavers, and Peter, Paul, and Mary have recorded the shanty.

References

hu:Eddystone világítótorony