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What is this?

This is a painting of Hartlepool Lighthouse by J.S Holmes. It was painted in 1859.

Lighthouses are built along the coast where there are dangerous rocks that ships may crash into. Lighthouses help to guide the ships by flashing lights out to sea. You can see the elephant rock in the background in the picture which has now collapsed.

The lighthouse in this picture helped ships to navigate around Hartlepool’s headland.

This lighthouse didn’t have electricity to power it. Instead natural gas was used from one of the coal mines. It was probably the first successful gas lit lighthouse in the world!

This lighthouse was used until the first world war where they realised that it was built in the way of the guns at Heugh Battery. In 1927 the lighthouse you can see today was built.

In the foreground you can see people, possibly collecting shellfish in a basket, and people in a traditional fishing boat, called a coble.

 

 

Contextual images / videos

Old photos of the original lighthouse and lighthouse keeper can be found here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Curriculum Links

History

  • Comparing aspects of life in different time periods
  • Understand how we find out about the past
  • Significant places in our locality

Geography

  • Simple maps

Science

  • Everyday materials and their properties
  • Seasonal changes including global warming
Featured activity idea

Imagine you are a lighthouse keeper. Send a postcard to a friend describing your day. Don’t forget to include some of the jobs you’ve had to do and what the weather was like.

How to book this object

Museum name: Hartlepool Museum and Art Gallery

Contact name: Caroline Shilson

Telephone: (01429) 869706

Email: caroline.shilson@hartlepool.gov.uk

What is this?

This is a painting of Hartlepool Lighthouse by J.S Holmes. It was painted in 1859.

Lighthouses are built along the coast where there are dangerous rocks that ships may crash into. Lighthouses help to guide the ships by flashing lights out to sea. You can see the elephant rock in the background in the picture which has now collapsed.

The lighthouse in this picture helped ships to navigate around Hartlepool’s headland.

This lighthouse didn’t have electricity to power it. Instead natural gas was used from one of the coal mines. It was probably the first successful gas lit lighthouse in the world!

This lighthouse was used until the first world war where they realised that it was built in the way of the guns at Heugh Battery. In 1927 the lighthouse you can see today was built.

In the foreground you can see people, possibly collecting shellfish in a basket, and people in a traditional fishing boat, called a coble.

Contextual images and videos

Old photos of the original lighthouse and lighthouse keeper can be found here.

Curriculum links

History

  • Continuity and change over time
  • Cause and consequence
  • A local history study
  • Understand how knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources

Science

  • Everyday materials and their uses
  • Light

Geography

  • Aerial photos
  • Simple maps
  • Settlement and land use

 

Featured activity idea

Design and make a lighthouse

The modern lighthouse standing on the Headland today is powered by electricity. Can students use their knowledge of circuits to plan out  a design to make a lighthouse.

Once planned, students could use recycled materials including kitchen roll tubes, clear plastic pots and bottles for example.

How to book this object

Museum name: Hartlepool Museum and Art Gallery

Contact name: Caroline Shilson

Telephone: (01429) 869706

Email: caroline.shilson@hartlepool.gov.uk

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