page_title: John Rennie the Elder
section_title: Bell Rock Lighthouse and Holyhead Mail Pier Lighthouse
hierarchical_section_title: John Rennie the Elder / Bell Rock Lighthouse and Holyhead Mail Pier Lighthouse
caption_attribution_description: English: Holyhead Mail Pier Light, Salt Island, Anglesey, built in 1821 by the engineer John Rennie and reputed to be the second oldest lighthouse in Wales.
context_page_description: John Rennie FRSE FRS was a Scottish civil engineer who designed many bridges, canals, docks and warehouses, and a pioneer in the use of structural cast-iron.
context_section_description: The Bell Rock Lighthouse, near the entrance to the Firths of Forth and Tay, was built during 1807 and 1810. Rennie was, by some, credited with the design and execution, but there seems little doubt that he was only nominally responsible for the great undertaking. Robert Stevenson, surveyor to the Commissioners of Northern Lights, drew the original plans and, at his suggestion, the commissioners called Rennie to assist with obtaining parliamentary approval for the project, giving him the title of chief engineer (for which however he was only paid £400). Stevenson did not accept many of the modifications proposed by Rennie, but the two men remained on friendly terms. Rennie visited the lighthouse twice while it was being built. When Stevenson died in 1850, the Commissioners put on record in their minutes that to him was 'due the honour of conceiving and executing the Bell Rock lighthouse'. However, Rennie's son, Sir John Rennie, claimed in a long exchange of letters with Alan Stevenson in 1849 that the advice which Rennie gave Stevenson entitled him to rank the building as one which he "designed and constructed".
  The Holyhead Mail Pier Light is a conical white house which was built by Rennie in 1821. It is probably the second oldest lighthouse in Wales, after Point of Ayr Lighthouse. The lighthouse is of national significance as one of Rennie's surviving works. Of particular importance, in a Welsh context, is the early date of the lighthouse lantern, which was originally lit by gas. Before the conversion to electricity a gas works was located on the island to power the lighthouse, the piers and even part of Holyhead itself. The works were constructed at a cost of £130,000, an astronomical sum at the time. The tower survives intact and has beautifully curving gallery railings, similar to those at Bardsey Lighthouse. It is no longer in use, although it is used as a navigation reference for sailors.
  The Howth Harbour Lighthouse is a matching tower in Howth, Ireland, also designed by Rennie, for the other terminal of the Irish packet steamer.
caption: Holyhead Mail Pier Light
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