Tévennec Lighthouse

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Tevennec lighthouse
Phare de Tévennec
Map
LocationRaz de Sein, Finistère, Brittany, France
Coordinates48°04′17″N 4°47′43″W / 48.0714°N 4.7953°W / 48.0714; -4.7953
Tower
Constructed1875 Edit this on Wikidata
Constructionstone Edit this on Wikidata
Automated7 February 1910 Edit this on Wikidata
Height11 m (36 ft) Edit this on Wikidata
OperatorMaritime Public Domain Edit this on Wikidata
Heritagemonument historique inscrit Edit this on Wikidata
Light
Focal height24 m (79 ft), 28 m (92 ft) Edit this on Wikidata
Range12 nmi (22 km; 14 mi) (white), 9 nmi (17 km; 10 mi) (white), 6 nmi (11 km; 6.9 mi) (red) Edit this on Wikidata
CharacteristicQ WR, Fl W 4s Edit this on Wikidata

Tévennec Lighthouse (French: Phare de Tévennec) is a lighthouse located at the western tip of Brittany (département of Finistère), in the northern part of the Raz de Sein off the Pointe du Van. Automated in 1910, it accompanies the light of La Vieille in securing the passage of the Raz de Sein, which presents many difficulties. The rocks near Tévennec were historically known as Stevenet Banks.

It was listed as a monument historique by a decree of December 31, 2015.[1]

Securing the Raz de Sein[edit]

Map showing the Chaussée de Sein and the Raz de Sein off the west coast of Brittany

The Chaussée de Sein is a group of islands, shoals and rocks, which extends about 12 miles westward of the Pointe du Raz, at the south end of the Baie de Douarnenez. It is a major hazard to navigation.[2] The construction of the Ar Men lighthouse at the west end of the Chaussée, began in 1867 and was completed in 1880.[3] This aided navigation for ships taking the route to the west of the Chaussée. There is also a passage between the île de Sein and the Pointe du Raz which provides a shortcut, the Raz de Sein. In 1796, during the Napoleonic Wars, the French ship Séduisant, part of a force intending to invade Ireland, was wrecked on the Tévennec rocks while attempting to pass the Raz de Sein at night. Hundreds of lives were lost.[4][5] The Tévennec lighthouse, situated to the north of the Raz de Sein, aids navigation through this passage.[6]

Sectors of the Tévennec lighthouse re-drawn from an 1895 nautical chart. The configuration was unchanged in 2021-2[7]

The Tévennec light was first activated in 1875.[8] It is an early example of a Sector light, with different characteristics (Red/White or flashing rates) indicating safe approach bearings.

Legends[edit]

According to Jean-Christophe Fichou and Francis Dreyer, the lighthouse is said to be "one of the strangest places in the history of lighthouses," and is rumored to be haunted.[9][10]

The lighthouse was classified as the fourth category, requiring a single keeper and a service period of a year. A series of 23 keepers lived at the light until automation. According to legend, the first lighthouse keeper, Henri Guezennec, was driven insane by ghostly voices demanding his departure. Allegedly Guezennec's replacement, Minou, had a similar experience. The French government then reclassified Tévennec as a two-man lighthouse; however, applications were rare. In 1897 the government began recruiting married couples to keep the lighthouse. Some unexplained deaths occurred. The first couple to accept the job were the Milliners. The most durable keepers, Louis and Marie-Jacquette Quéméré, followed them with their three children and a cow and remained five years. In 1907 a new couple replaced them, Msr. Roparz and his wife. More deaths occurred and a storm destroyed a part of the lighthouse while the keeper's wife was in childbirth.[11] The lighthouse was automated in 1910.[12]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tévennec.
  1. ^ Préfecture de région Bretagne : Arrêté n° 2016-12336 du 31 décembre 2015 portant inscription au titre des monuments historiques du phare de Tévennec (Finistère)
  2. ^ Sailing Directions (enroute): West Coast of Europe and Northwest Africa (17 ed.). Springfield, Virginia: National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. 2022. pp. 14–16.
  3. ^ Vernon-Harcourt, Leveson Francis (1885). Harbours and docks : their physical features, history, construction, equipment, and maintenance, with statistics as to their commercial development. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 370–371. OCLC 2600359.
  4. ^ Colomb, P.H. (1892). "Notes on The Attempted Invasions of Ireland by The French In 1796-98". Journal of the Royal United Service Institution. 36 (167): 17–33. doi:10.1080/03071849209418577.
  5. ^ Jones, Edwyn Henry Stuart (1950). An Invasion that Failed: The French Expedition to Ireland, 1796. Blackwell. pp. 112–115. OCLC 1048928.
  6. ^ Chavasse, Nick (30 April 2018). Atlantic France. Imray, Laurie, Norie and Wilson Ltd. pp. 72–73. ISBN 978-1-78679-116-0.
  7. ^ Towler, Perrin; Fishwick, Mark (7 December 2021). Reeds Nautical Almanac 2022, published 2021. p. 890. ISBN 978-1-4729-9045-7.
  8. ^ "Tevennec Island". The Nautical Magazine. 44: 166. 1875.
  9. ^ "Tévennec Lighthouse". Phares de France. 4 March 2021.
  10. ^ Dreyer, Francis; Fichou, Jean-Christophe (7 September 2018). L'histoire de tous les phares de France (in French). Ouest-France. ISBN 978-2-7373-7869-0.
  11. ^ Le Cunff, Louis (1992). Feux de mer (in French). Ancre de Marine Editions. ISBN 978-2-905970-44-2.
  12. ^ Riddell, Shona (1 October 2020). Guiding Lights: The Extraordinary Lives of Lighthouse Women. Exisle Publishing. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-77559-461-1.
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