CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Gatteville Lighthouse

lighthouse in Manche, France, built in 1834

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 12, 2023
Entity authorityQ964781
Source-derived summary

Phare de Gatteville, also known as Pointe de Barfleur Light, is an active lighthouse near Gatteville-le-Phare at the tip of Barfleur, Manche department, in the Normandy region of France. At a height of 247 feet (75 m) it is the third tallest "traditional lighthouse" in the world.

History

Strong currents and many shipwrecks at the tip of Barfleur, the most famous of which being the White Ship, necessitated building a lighthouse at the location. In 1774 a cylindrical 25 metres (82 ft) granite lighthouse with a stone rectangular main building were built. The lighthouse was topped with a coal fire. It was first lit on November 1, 1775, and was originally called Phare de Barfleur (Barfleur Lighthouse).

In September 1780 the lantern was replaced with 16 oil lamps with a fire glazed glass lantern and Tourtille-Sangrain reflectors.

In 1825 an upgrade of the lens was planned, requiring raising the tower an additional 32 metres (105 ft), but the building proved not to be wide enough. Thus, the architect Charles-Félix Morice de la Rue drew plans for the tallest lighthouse in the world for that time. It was built 60 metres (200 ft) from the old lighthouse.

Editorial summary

“Gatteville Lighthouse” enters the record as lighthouse in Manche, France, built in 1834. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Gatteville, Lighthouse and lighthouse can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1774, 1775, 1780, 1825—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1834. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Gatteville, Lighthouse and lighthouse.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Gatteville Lighthouse” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Gatteville, Lighthouse and lighthouse provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 12, 2023. The linked authority identifier is Q964781. Authority coordinates are 49.696, -1.266. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1774, 1775, 1780 and 1825.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Gatteville Lighthouse”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Gatteville Lighthouse primary sources, Gatteville Lighthouse archive and Gatteville research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Gatteville Lighthouse”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Gatteville Lighthouse” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.