Bovbjerg Lighthouse

Facts

Red lighthouse and white churches

By Søren Byskov, Mag.art. i etnografi og socialantropologi, 1994 Ph.d. i historie, 2005 (2 stories)

The lighthouse on Bovbjerg Cliff is a landmark of the west coast of Jutland. Sailors are unlikely to mistake it for the whitewashed churches in Ferring and Trans as the red lighthouse is 41 metres above sea level. Dating from 1877, the 26-metres tall lighthouse was the first in Denmark to have adjoining quarters for the keeper in a three-winged horse-shoe shape. Initially, people were wary of building lighthouses because they thought they may lure passing ships too close to land. Bovbjerg Lighthouse was the first of a network of lighthouses between Hanstholm and Esbjerg, and the risk of shipwrecks declined further when steamers and later motor ships became common.

Public place

Selected entry

The cradle of coastal security

Story written by Søren Byskov

Time / Periode 1877

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King Frederik VI visited Bovbjerg after the sea flooded Agger Point in 1825. A memorial pillar marks the royal visit. Due to cliff erosion, the memorial had to be moved twice in the following decades. Farming land was also being lost, so in 1875 the Department of Hydraulic Engineering built the first groynes along the west coast of Jutland. Groynes were then also built off Agger, Thyborøn and the rest of the west coast to combat erosion. In the 1970s, it was discovered that pumping sand onto the beach was the best form of sea defence. Sand feeding" has been used ever since to protect the west coast of Jutland. "