The discovery for the first time of three lighthouses, each forming the apex of a triangle, on a small field next to the Humber bank, at Killingholme on the south bank of the Humber is startling. Although the drawing above, taken from the 1939 book (s.p.b.s) shows the site and background to be rural, today the scene is very different dwarfed by looming stockpiles of bulk cargo on the dockside at Immingham and the oil refinery complex at Killingholme.
As seen in the sketch, the trio comprised one tall lighthouse and two lower lighthouses; all built of brick and round in shape very much like tower windmills.
The building history of the three lighthouses is complex but reflects the importance of this point in the Estuary. According to the book (s.p.b.s) the High Light was built in 1831 and the so-called south lowlight in 1836. However, cross-referencing with the very detailed chapters on aids to navigation in Storey, A. ‘Hull Trinity House History of Pilotage and Navigational Aids of the River Humber (1512-1908)’, Hull Trinity House, 1971, it states that both the high light and the south lowlight were built (very quickly) in the second half of 1836. In fact, the third lighthouse, the so-called north lighthouse, on the site was not built until 1851, albeit in the same style.
The significance of these three structures was that they guided ships through the middle area of the lower Estuary, most of the ships being bound for Hull Old Port, Hull Town Docks or, later, Victoria and Alexandra Docks. The first two of the three lighthouses, built in 1836, guided ships from Spurn Point area to this point of the south bank, the third guiding ships crossing the Humber from Paull on the deep-water channel known as Whitebooth Roads. The contemporary lighthouse at Paull (see later) guided the ships through Hull Roads deep water channel from the mouth of the River Hull.
(to be continued).