After bearing the force of winds, waves and the passage of time, the masonry and electrics were in need of repair. 

That work has already started with repointing of the walls carried out by local stonemasons with engineers preparing to work on the light itself at the top of the tower.

Pictured: Martyn Stanfield, Head of Technical & Estate Services for Guernsey Ports, at the Castle Breakwater lighthouse.

The work has been overseen by the team at Guernsey Ports, with experts brought in from local firms.

"The pointing between the granite blocks was all starting to fail and we were finding dampness inside so we've had Louis from Stoneworks and his guys rake all the pointing out to 25mm deep, replace all the pointing and the lime render to the pointing systems so it allows the granite to breathe, and they've also cleaned all the paint off the very front of the lighthouse to allow them to do that so we've now to repaint all the white patch at the front," explained Martyn Stanfield, Head of Technical & Estate Services for Guernsey Ports.

He said it was very important from the get-go that the work befits the traditional way the lighthouse was built. 

"Lee at Limeworks has found us a heritage white paint that's used on lighthouses that is also breathable so we can rebuild the lighthouse as it used to be with lime based products and traditional stuff so it breathes and stops all the dampness," he said.

Pictured: The inside of the Castle Breakwater lighthouse as it currently is.

Work on the lighthouse will take a few more weeks, with ongoing collaboration between different teams of skilled tradesman to ensure the ongoing safety provided by the historic structure. 

"It's been here for over 155 years. It was built in 1867 and the light was first lit I believe on 1 March," said Mr Stanfield. "It's a very important navigation mark - it's your main leading light for coming down the Little Russell into the harbour. We just couldn't let it fall apart, we had to do the work on it."

With the repointing work done, the focus is moving to the cupola - the top of the tower - which is encased in scaffolding, and contains the light itself. 

There are some further challenges related to the location of the lighthouse - being at the end of the breakwater, surrounded by the sea.

Pictured: Work is ongoing to the exterior and inside the lighthouse.

"We're looking at rebuilding the lantern at the light and the cupola that sits on top, within the next four weeks," Mr Stanfield said. "We've had to take a lot of the parts off for cleaning, grit blasting, painting, some bits we've had to re-manufacture in the workshop so the harbours technical team have rebuilt those and they've all had to be made so its manually capable to be lifted up there because we can't get a crane across the Castle Bridge due to weight restrictions, so we're going to get small vans across here and everything's got to be carried up by hand.

"Some bits will be pulled up on a little winch on the outside of the scaffold, other bits will be carried up the inside and then we've got thousand litre containers of water - they were brought across to mix the render up, and they came across with the cement, and it all came across on the harbour work boat.

"There are lots of things to consider, and many trades. we've had the contracted in stonemasons, our harbour grit blaster for removing the paint, we've got the painters coming in, we've had welders, electricians - as we've had to move the light from inside to outside and make sure it's at the right angle so that it's still usable as a navigation mark."

Pictured: The light has been moved to the outside of the lighthouse while work on the structure is ongoing.

With mariners using the lighthouse to guide their safe passage, Mr Stanfield said it was imperative that the light continued to shine throughout the work.

"You line up the lighthouse with Belvedere light up at Fort George and that gives you a perfect line straight down the Little Russell.

"Everything is still the same, it's the same light it's just been taken from inside to outside."

GALLERY:

Pictures below show the exterior of the lighthouse as well as rare views of the inside of the structure. 

Pictured top: The Castle Breakwater and the lighthouse.