Newlyn tidal observatory and part of the south pier

Tidal observatory for the Ordnance Survey, and part of the south pier, constructed between 1913 and 1915.

Constructed of concrete blocks with a flat felt-covered roof, the tidal observatory is rectangular in plan. It is single storey and comprises a single room with a small lobby on the south side set back from the west elevation. The original structure has canted corners and there is a shallow cornice to the roof. On the west and north elevations are large, square timber-framed windows with steel double-shutters; the window to the north has small top-hung brass-framed casements. The building is accessed through sheet-steel doors on the west elevation of the lobby, within which is mounted a plaque to commemorate the bicentenary of the Ordnance Survey. The rear (east) wall of the observatory is the pier parapet.

The internal door to the observatory is simply boarded and set within an iron frame. The stilling well trap-door is roughly central inside the observatory and comprises sheets of timber, with various holes for the float in the stilling well shaft, situated within the south pier. A Munro tidal gauge is positioned at an angle above the trapdoor, on a cast iron base bolted to the floor. Attached to the ceiling above is a pully/hook (originally for the steel dipping tape). Set into the floor adjacent to the well shaft is the square, brass Observatory Bench Mark.

The pier extension is concrete faced in granite blocks tied together with steel bars, on a concrete raft on the rock foundation, two feet below the sea bed. All of the concrete blocks were made by Harvey & Co of Hayle at a yard on the nearby beach, using Portland cement and ingredients supplied by the St Ives and Penlee Stone Company.

Pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that the south pier lighthouse is not of special architectural or historic interest, however any works which have the potential to affect the character of the listed building as a building of special architectural or historic interest may still require LBC and this is a matter for the LPA to determine.