An 1818 report by the Surveyor–General of the Duchy of Cornwall on the dangers to shipping in Cornwall proposed that a lighthouse be built, similar to the Eddystone Lighthouse, upon Bishop Rock, given its location as the westernmost rock of the Isles of Scilly. The plan was considered by the government and building was expected soon, as the engineer John Rennie the Elder made an offer to build it. The government did not take up the offer, but Trinity House surveyed Bishop Rock in 1843, with a view to building a lighthouse, and work began in 1847. The engineer in chief, James Walker, decided on a design consisting of accommodation and a light on top of iron legs. The light was never lit, since on a storm washed the tower away.