Smeaton's Tower stood were becoming eroded. Each time a large wave hit, the lighthouse shook from side to side. Smeaton's Tower ceased operation in 1879 with the illumination of Douglass's Tower on an adjacent rock. In 1882 the upper part of Smeaton's Tower was dismantled and rebuilt as a memorial to Smeaton on a new base on Plymouth Hoe, replacing the triangular obelisk that had been built there by Trinity House as a navigation aid in the early 19th century. It was opened to the public by the Mayor of Plymouth on 24 September 1884. The foundation and stub of the old
Mark Smeaton dramatisation of the downfall of Cardinal Wolsey shortly after his death. Smeaton appears in Gaetano Donizetti's opera "Anna Bolena", in which the character is a trouser role assigned to a contralto. Mark Smeaton Mark Smeaton (c. 1512 – 17 May 1536) was a musician at the court of Henry VIII of England, in the household of Queen Anne Boleyn. Smeaton, the Queen's brother George Boleyn (Viscount Rochford), Henry Norris, Francis Weston and William Brereton were executed for alleged treason and adultery with Queen Anne. Mark Smeaton's exact date of birth is unknown, however, it is believed he was around 23