St Mary Whitkirk, Leeds
Home
On-line Calendar
Contact us
Service Times
Arranging a Baptism or Wedding
Who's who
For children and youth
History and church records
John Smeaton
Groups and Activities
Church Hall hire
Organ Appeal
Church of England
Diocese of Ripon and Leeds
Churches Together
Whitkirk
Cross Gates
Ripon Cathedral
updated 18th October 2009
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.
