John Smeaton worked during the height of Britain’s Industrial Revolution (1760 to 1840).
Over his career as a consulting civil engineer, Smeaton designed more than 100 bridges, water and wind mills, canals, harbours and land drainage schemes, as well as steam-powered engines. He also produced over 200 technical reports.
Smeaton had a lifelong interest in astronomy, making his own telescopes and writing scientific papers about his observations.
His remarkable research on air pressure to determine lift was used by the pioneers of powered flight, Americans Wilbur and Orville Wright.
He is best known for the ground-breaking design and construction of the Eddystone Lighthouse off the coast of Plymouth, Devon.
Smeaton originated the term ‘civil engineering’ to differentiate it from military engineering, and to raise its then-perceived status as a craft-based occupation to a scientific profession.
He defined civil engineering as works for the public good. His designs and plans were unrivalled in clarity and logic, and his revolutionary approach to engineering practice continues to shape civil engineering to this day.
Here are 5 of his greatest engineering achievements.
1. Eddystone Lighthouse, Plymouth, Devon
Smeaton’s was the third lighthouse to be constructed on the treacherous Eddystone rocks, 13 nautical miles south-west of Plymouth.
The first, octagonal in shape and erected between 1696 to 1699, was washed away in the Great Storm of 1703, taking with it its designer, Henry Winstanley.
The second, a conical timber structure by John Rudyard, was completed in 1709 and destroyed by fire 1755. Smeaton was then commissioned to build the third.
Smeaton’s engineering masterpiece was an ingenious design constructed of huge granite blocks dovetailed together, including joining the lower course into the rocks, giving it immense strength. The upward-tapering shape of the trunks of grand oak trees inspired its form.
His design became the worldwide prototype for all masonry lighthouses built in the open sea.
The seas were often mountainous during construction, and the weather atrocious. Traditional mortar struggled to set in the constant spray. Smeaton invented waterproof cement (hydraulic lime) that would harden underwater.
Smeaton’s lighthouse withstood the elements for 123 years before being dismantled due to movement in the structure caused by erosion of the rocks beneath.
The original base was retained in place, just metres from a fourth new lighthouse, built by James Douglass and first lit in 1882. Douglass’ lighthouse, which has been modified over the decades, including automation and a helicopter pad, is still in use today.
In Plymouth Hoe, the retained lantern and top storeys of Smeaton’s lighthouse were erected on a replica base in 1882, a structure known as Smeaton’s Tower.
The tower was used in the campaign for women’s rights in 1913 when the suffragettes placed an explosive device in the building’s entrance. The words ‘Votes for women’ and ‘death in 10 minutes’ were painted on the outside. However, the device’s wick was blown out and did not ignite.
2. Aire and Calder Navigation Canal, West Yorkshire
Canals played a vital role in the Industrial Revolution, especially for the cheap and easy transportation of raw materials such as coal and wool to factories and mills across the country. This made it far quicker than using a horse and cart.
The United Kingdom was the first country to develop a nationwide canal network. Its ‘golden age’ was between 1770 and 1830, with the canal network spanning over 4,000 miles.
In 1754, Smeaton visited low-lying Holland and Belgium, observing their canal construction and flood defences. The knowledge accrued there stood him in good stead for his future work on the waterways of Britain.
He consulted on several canal projects throughout his career, including the Forth and Clyde Canal, with its 39 locks, linking Scotland’s east and west coasts, the Rippon Canal, Birmingham, and the Aire and Calder Navigation in Leeds in 1758.
3. Coldstream Bridge, River Tweed, Northumberland and Scottish Borders
The Tweed Bridge Trustees commissioned Smeaton to design this bridge. It was his first of several, exhibiting the simple, functional design that became characteristic of his later bridges. It opened to traffic in October 1766 and still stands today.
3 years earlier, Smeaton had been asked to advise on emergency bridge repairs to London Bridge. The central arch had been widened, but the accelerated volume of water undermined the foundations.
Smeaton’s successful solution was to cast tonnes of rubble from the demolished medieval city gates into the river to stem the flow.
Smeaton’s only project failure (which devastated him) was Hexham Bridge over the River Tyne, Northumberland, which opened in 1781. The following year, a violent storm and surging torrent caused the foundations to give way, and the bridge collapsed.
“The news came to me like a thunderbolt”, he supposedly said.
4. Wheal Busy (formerly Chacewater Mine), Cornwall
Since the medieval period, Cornwall and West Devon have been major areas in England for mining non-ferrous metals such as copper and tin.
The 18th century saw Cornish-mined copper dominating the market. The Chacewater Mine, which produced vast amounts of valuable copper ore, was reputedly known then as ‘the richest square mile on earth.’
The development of new pumping engine technologies marked the century. In 1775, John Smeaton designed and built what was, at the time, the most powerful steam engine ever built to power the mine.
5. Royal Harbour, Ramsgate, Kent
In 1744, official discussions took place about establishing a new harbour for large merchant ships and war ships in Sandwich, Kent.
However, a violent storm in 1748 forced ships to take shelter in Ramsgate Harbour. Many vessels and lives were saved, and it was decided that Ramsgate should be the site of a new harbour instead.
Work began on an east pier in 1749, but within 10 years, sand and mud started silting up the harbour.
In 1773, John Smeaton was invited to advise on cleaning and deepening the harbour. He worked on many harbours during his career, including St Ives, Whitehaven, Dover, Bristol and Scarborough.
His plans included the construction of a double basin that would fill at high tide and, as the tide ebbed, sluice gates would remove silt and clean out the harbour. Work was completed in 1781. He also designed a dry dock, completed in 1786, for taking in vessels for repair.
6 years later, Smeaton was asked to devise a way of removing turbulence from the harbour waters to help ships coming in during stormy weather. This involved extending the pier out into the sea, with work starting in 1788.
During this time, Smeaton successfully employed a diving chest (bell) to clear large boulders that had been previously used to shore up the pier to prevent damage from heavy seas and now were no longer needed. The diving bell was a cast iron chest accommodating 2 men, with a forcing pump in a boat above supplying fresh air through as flexible tube.
Ramsgate Harbour was John Smeaton’s last major project. He died on 28 October 1792, the same year his designs for Ramsgate Harbour were completed.
John Smeaton’s legacy
Smeaton was buried under the chancel of St Mary’s Church in Whitkirk, West Yorkshire, in the same parish where he was born.
A memorial tablet representing arguably his most famous feat of engineering, the Eddystone Lighthouse, was erected.
Another John Smeaton memorial stone depicting the Eddystone Lighthouse is in Westminster Abbey, London.
Nearby is an 1862 memorial stained glass window to Robert Stephenson, one of the greatest engineers of the 19th century, who is buried at Westminster Abbey. Portrait medallions at the top of the window depict 6 world-famous British civil engineers, John Smeaton among the likes of Thomas Telford and James Watt.
Smeaton founded the Society of Civil Engineers in 1771 (renamed the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers in 1830), the forerunner to the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). His portrait bust is located at ICE’s London headquarters.
Written by Nicky Hughes
Further reading
- Smeaton 300
- 8 Sites of Scientific Discovery and Innovation
- Suffragettes: Places Where History Happened
- Ramsgate’s Historic Past in 10 Images
Thanks for an informative read. I first remember hearing about John Smeaton on ‘Blue Peter’ and his lighthouses!
I found out he was also principal engineer on the Basingstoke Canal which made me proud we could share a little bit in his legacy closer to home
Excellent article. Thank you.
Smeaton designed and built several water mills and windmills in the North East of England, including Winlaton, Horsley and Throckley, but the only known Snuff Mill by Smeaton was at Chimney Mills, Newcastle. In 2008, it was excavated prior to the development of a new Faculty for Newcastle University and the Excavation and Research Report by Christopher Baglee and John Nolan was published in INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY REVIEW, XXXI: 2, 2009.