Rock Lighthouse, Wirral Peninsula
In 1683 the Corporation of Liverpool erected a wooden pole or perch at Black Rock to mark it as a danger point to shipping approaching the River Mersey. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries a perch marker was sited at the mouth of the River Mersey to mark a group of rocks. It was requently destroyed by shipping. This prompted Lieutenant Evans (a Royal Navy surveyor) in 1812 to ask for a permanent light to be built. In 1821 a Mersey pilot boat collided with the perch in stormy weather.
The dock trustees were petitioned to replace the perch and in June 1827 the construction of Rock Lighthouse began. John Foster (1786-1846) was an architect and surveyor to the Corporation of Liverpool and designed Rock Lighthouse. The first light showed in March 1830 and was altered in 1878 to W F1 (20) with a range of 14 miles (22.54km) from 77 ft (23.47m) above sea level. The granite tower is 89 ft (27.13m) above sea level.
Rock Lighthouse is on the extreme north-east corner of the Wirral Peninsula, at the entrance to the River Mersey.