Skokholm Lighthouse is a lighthouse

Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

 found on the small Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 island of Skokholm

Skokholm

Skokholm is an uninhabited island off the coast of south west Pembrokeshire in Wales, lying south of the neighbouring island of Skomer. The whole island is a Site of Special Scientific Interest as is Skomer. The surrounding waters are a marine reserve, all part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National...

, just off the south-west coast of Pembrokeshire

Pembrokeshire

Pembrokeshire is a county in the south west of Wales. It borders Carmarthenshire to the east and Ceredigion to the north east. The county town is Haverfordwest where Pembrokeshire County Council is headquartered....

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Skokholm island, a Site of Special Scientific Interest

Site of Special Scientific Interest

A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...

, is owned and managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales. The site of the United Kingdom's first bird observatory

Bird observatory

A bird observatory is a centre for the study of bird migration and bird populations. They are usually focused on local birds, but may also include interest in far flung areas. Most bird observatories are small operations with a limited staff, many volunteers and a not-for-profit educational status...

, a great deal of birds can be found on what today is an uninhabited island.

The present lighthouse was constructed in 1861, although a previous lighthouse had been erected in 1776. Forming a triangle of lights with South Bishop

South Bishop Lighthouse

The South Bishop Lighthouse is a lighthouse on South Bishop Island , a small rock approximately west of St Davids Head in Pembrokeshire, Wales....

 and the Smalls

Smalls Lighthouse

Smalls Lighthouse stands on a small rock approximately west of St David's Peninsula in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was erected in 1861 by engineer James Douglass to replace a previous lighthouse which had been erected in 1776 on the same rock...

 to protect shipping moving into and out of Milford Haven

Milford Haven

Milford Haven is a town and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, a natural harbour used as a port since the Middle Ages. The town was founded in 1790 on the north side of the Waterway, from which it takes its name...

 and the Bristol Channel

Bristol Channel

The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean...

, the lighthouse shines 20 miles (32.2 km).

Construction of the present lighthouse was only enabled after the construction of a new jetty. This enabled building materials to be landed, which were then moved to the site using a narrow gauge railway, initially powered by a donkey

Donkey

The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...

, then a pony

Pony

A pony is a small horse . Depending on context, a pony may be a horse that is under an approximate or exact height at the withers, or a small horse with a specific conformation and temperament. There are many different breeds...

, and finally a tractor

Tractor

A tractor is a vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used in agriculture or construction...

. Once in operation, relief was provided by boat from Holyhead

Holyhead

Holyhead is the largest town in the county of Anglesey in the North Wales. It is also a major port adjacent to the Irish Sea serving Ireland....

. Automated in 1983, it is now monitored and controlled from the Trinity House

Trinity House

The Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond is the official General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales and other British territorial waters...

 Operations Control Centre at Harwich

Harwich

Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...

 in Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

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