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updated 18th October 2009
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John Smeaton
8th June 1724 - 28th October 1792
John
Smeaton was born and died in the family house in the Austhorpe area of
this parish.
He is buried in the church and was given the
accolade of 'The Father of Civil Engineering in Britain'.
His most famous work is the lighthouse on Eddystone Reef, 14 miles
south of Plymouth. This was
the first lighthouse to be built of
stone and he began the project 250 years ago in 1756, completing it
in
1759.
This year marks the 250th anniversary of the lighthouse shining on Eddystone Reef - the light being
exhibited in his tower for the first time on 16th October 1759. We will be marking this notable occasion with a special
service in the church at 10.00am on Sunday 18th October at which the Bishop of Knaresborough will be the preacher.
The Eddystone lighthouse is also famous because it was depicted on the
back of the old penny, 
just behind Britannia. This is the
lighthouse that now stands on Plymouth Hoe.
The
story of the building of the lighthouse is told in a novel by
Christopher Severn, called
Smeaton's Tower, published by Seafarer Books
in 2005.
John Smeaton attended Leeds Grammar School, leaving at 16 to work in
his father's law
practice. He gave that up and became an
apprentice to a mathematical instrument
maker, setting up his own
business around 1750.
In addition to his lighthouse, John Smeaton designed an impressive list
of bridges
(Aberdeen, Banff, Coldstream, Hexham, Newark viaduct,
Perth). He was responsible for the Forth-Clyde canal, the Calder
navigation and 8 miles of canal at Ripon; Ramsgate Harbour and Pumps at
London Bridge. He discovered hydraulic lime
(calcinations of
limestone containing clay which harden under water). There is a
mathematical formula named after him
called the Smeaton Coefficient
(which concerns the relationship between pressure and velocity for
objects moving in air).
A model of his lighthouse adorns
his monument in the chancel and it has been used by Austhorpe Primary
School for their badge - a local school which is next to the site of his house.

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