One of a pair of very similar navigation markers (see also NPRN 518999) set up by Trinity House in the 1830's as an aid to navigation into the harbour at Holyhead, probably used in conjuction with the marker on West Mouse (Maen y Bugael) and the Skerries Lighthouse. The beacon consists of a tapering tower 'T' shaped in plan. The front facing N and the sea is heavily limewashed and this extends around the sides of the front as well. It was possible to see 13 or 14 separate applications of lime wash where areas had flaked off. The whole tower is neatly built of uncoursed stone, most of which has been rendered. The front sits on a shallow plinth or ledge of stone slightly larger than the base. This front is 6.5m x 0.9m tapering to approximately 1m x 0.5m. The top is protected by a flat capstone. The back 'support' is slightly less substantial, 3.5m x 0.5m at its base. 20m above O.D.
The pilot beacons at Carmel Head were erected by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board in the 1860's as an aid to navigation and comprise two concrete pyramids aligned with a third on West Mouse (NPRN 417417). The line of sight through the beacons marks the position of Coal Rock - a notorious isolated rock hazardous to shipping. The beacons have been photographed during aerial reconnaissance by RCAHMW.
Claire Parry, RCAHMW, 19 January 2011.
John Latham, RCAHMW, 12 March 2013.
Carmel Head has been monitored as part of the CHERISH project, due to being at risk from natural processes exacerbated by climate change. CHERISH (Climate, Heritage and Environments of Reefs, Islands and Headlands) is an EU-funded Wales-Ireland project (2017-2022) led by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, in partnership with the Discovery Programme: Centre for Archaeology and Innovation Ireland, Aberystwyth University: Department of Geography and Earth Sciences and Geological Survey, Ireland. Work included aerial survey in 2016 and photographic survey in 2018.
H. Genders Boyd, CHERISH, April 2022