Headlight of Saint-Mathieu

The headlight of Saint-Mathieu is located on the Pointe Saint-Mathieu, with Plougonvelin, in the surroundings of Brest, in the Finistere. It was built in 1835 in the ruins of a old abbey. It is a major headlight of the French coast whose theoretical range is of 29 marine miles (approximately 55 km).

With that of Kermorvan, it gives the direction of the Chenal of the Furnace, which the ships followed forwarding on a North-South axis before the creation of the Rail of Ushant, while its alignment with the Phare of Portzic gives the route to follow to enter the Goulet of Brest.

History

On the headland of Mathieu Saint do not draw up only the ruins of a abbey, but also a headlight and a modern semaphore. If this unit can seem baroque (so much so that some had advanced the idea, within the framework of a restoration of the abbey, to dismount the headlight to rebuild it further), the site does not keep of it less its coherence, so much these elements are bound by their history.

The first fires

The presence of a fire intended for the ships crossing in these trimmings is older, but it was necessary to await the end of the 17th century and the needs for access to the new naval base of Brest, so that one is worried a little more seriously about the conditions of navigation in Western Brittany

November 19th, 1691, is proposed the construction of a fire on the bell-tower of the abbey. This project was completed in September 1692. In order to supplement the beaconing another fire will be inaugurated in 1699, with the Stiff, Ushant.

But the maintenance of a fire is expensive. For reasons of economy, the fire of Saint-Mathieu is lit only by the very black nights of autumn and winter. Moreover, the coal fire thus lit, not very effective, risk to set ablaze the abbey.

In December 1695, one decides to replace it by a glazed lantern containing fifteen copper lampions placed on three superimposed lines. But there too there were disadvantages:

as soon as the oil level dropped, the light was returned towards the sky by the copper of the lampions;
one used fish oil not purified, whose vapors clogged the panes and reduced the range of the headlight.

In addition, Tourville complained that the headlight is not regularly lit. The monks propose their services in exchange of the right of breaking and are charged to light the lamp as from the January 1694. In 1701, the Navy recovers the headlight and rents a house to install a guard.

In March 1750, a strong strong gale demolishes the lantern and the intendant of the Navy made reinforce the building by a metal reinforcement. At that time, fire could have been seen to two Lieue S if its clearness did not attract the birds of sea which came to be crushed and break the squares there. To protect them, one had to pose a netting which absorbed most of the light.

In 1771, the general lieutenant of the naval armies count d' Estaing made carry out a series of modifications. One replaced the small squares by large ices out of glass of Bohemia and the lampions by lamps with double wick supplied with a mixture of oil of fish and oil of colza. The power of reflection was reinforced by polished metal reflectors. The fire of this new headlight could be seen up to 30 km. The headlight was saved at the time the sale of the national goods. This explains the current conservation of the ruins: the tower, in spite of the important stone reserve which it represented, could not be demolished.

In 1820, the fire of Saint-Mathieu was equipped with an installation for fire turning with 8 Lenoir reflectors and with the lamps of Argand, which increased the range by it. But remained the problem insufficient height of the unit.

Current headlight

The state of the tower of the old abbey being pitiful, it was then decided to build a new headlight, which was brought into service on June 15th, 1835. The new headlight is produced on a barrel 3,2 meters in interior diameter and 36 meters height, whose base is surrounded by a circular construction, containing the stores and the rooms of the guards. An interior staircase, leads to turning fire with 16 half-lenses placed at 55 m above the sea level which thickness is protected by ices from 81 9 mm and side cm. This fire with 30 seconds eclipses in 30 seconds, whose range was of 35 km about 1860, functioned initially with the Huile of colza, then with the Pétrole before being electrified in 1932.

October 10th, 1911, fire is posed on a bath of mercury and its characteristics change: it is since a flash-light one 15 seconds period. It is on the other hand only in June 1963 that it takes its current aspect: tower painted in white marked " Saint-Mathieu" in red and red band at the top.

Photographs

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