History of lighthouses with demands, and to the loss of a number of ships, most notably the Dutch merchant ship Vreede in 1800 with the loss of 380 lives. After the reforms of the Lighthouse Act 1836, owners still managed to collect large dues, of which the largest were for the Smalls Lighthouse which collected £23,000 in 1852 and Trinity House was forced to spend over £1m in buying back leases, including £444,000 for the Skerries Lighthouse. The modern era of lighthouses began at the turn of the 18th century, as lighthouse construction boomed in lockstep with burgeoning levels of transatlantic commerce. Advances
Woody Island Lighthouses level. The slope is easy on the landward or western side and falls steeply to seaward, culminating in an abrupt and discontinuous rocky escarpment towards the north which extends for about nine and a half kilometres. A small sandy beach is located towards the southern seaward point. The ground cover consists of sparse native grasses on two old lighthouse clearings and dune flats, with very little cover through the higher and timbered areas. The two lighthouse clearings are located at Middle Bluff and North Bluff. The lighthouses are no longer operational. The Middle Bluff lighthouse is relatively intact. It has