The Candlestick

A hospital appointment took me to Whitehaven today where this well-known landmark towers over the harbour. Built in the 1840s for the wealthy Lowther family as part of their Wellington Pit, its constuction was to vent the explosive methane gas from the coal workings beneath which extended nearly four miles out to sea. In spite of this vent, a devastating explosion and underground fire took place in 1910 during which 136 men and boys lost their lives.

The Candlestick is reputed to be modelled on a beloved candleholder that the Lowther family owned. It was designed by Sidney Smirke, an eminent architect of the day, who also designed the circular reading room at the British Museum, the Imperial War Museum and the Carlton Club in Pall Mall.