Stamps & Postmarks with a maritime theme

Great Britain stamps and Special Event and First Day postmarks - Maritime theme


This part shows images of the Lighthouse stamps issued by GB on 24 March 1998, followed by details of special First Day postmarks used in association with this stamp issue.
St John's Point 20p 4k The Smalls 26p 4k The Needles 37p 4k Bell Rock 43p 4k Eddystone 63p 4k
St John's Point, 20pThe Smalls, 26p The Needles, 37pBell Rock, 43pEddystone, 63p

The set of stamps commemorate both the 300th anniversary of the lighting of the first Eddystone lighthouse and the final year of manned lighthouses in the UK. All will be automatic by the end of 1998. Information from the British Philatelic Bulletin

The 20p stamp [basic inland 2nd class letter rate] shows the lighthouse at St. John's Point, County Down, Northern Ireland, which was established in 1844. The colours of the lighthouse were changed to black and yellow in 1954. The stamp shows a contemporary* chart in the background: the band at the foot of the stamp shows the lighting characteristics - 'group quick flashing x 2' {* I take this to mean 'current' rather than contemporary with the change of colour - Norvic}

The 26p stamp shows the lighthouse at The Smalls, Pembrokeshire, Wales [basic inland 1st class and EU basic weight letter rate]. The current tower was built in 1859 by James Douglass and was automated in the 1980s. The chart is dated 1988. The light is 'group flashing x 3'.

The famous Needles Rocks lighthouse on the Isle of Wight on England's south coast is shown on the 37p stamp [airmail postcard rate]. {The Isle of Wight guards the approach to the famous port of Southampton, from where many trans-atlantic voyages started.} This lighthouse was also built in 1859, by James Walker and the stamp shows it as it was at the turn of the century. The chart dates from 1908 and the light is 'single occulting'.

On the 43p stamp [airmail letters up to 10gr] is the lighthouse on Bell Rock (or Inchcape Rock) 11 miles south-east of Arbroath, Scotland. It was built in 1911 by Robert Stevenson (ancestor of poet Robert Louis Stevenson), and marks a dangerous reef. The tower is the oldest rock lighthouse still in operation in Britain and is shown as it appeared in the mid-19th century. The chart is dated 1842 and the light is 'alternating white and red'.

The 63p stamp [airmail letters 10-20gr] features Henry Winstanley's original Eddystone Lighthouse, off Plymouth, Devon as it looked when first lit in 1698. The chart is from the mid-18th century, and the light's character is 'fixed steady light.'

GB: Lighthouse issue special postmarks/cancels (not to scale)

Please note these postmarks cannot be obtained after the date of issue. We have no stocks of these except on a few FDCs. For current information visit our new website of information on new stamps and postmarks of Great Britain
Needle 7k dover 6k bell rock 7k B Head 5k
Ref 5248
The Needles Lighthouse, Freshwater, Isle of Wight
32x36mm
Ref 5249
The Pharos, Dover Kent.
Remains of Roman lighthouse
23x31mm
Ref 5265
The Bell Rock Lighthouse, Arbroath (Scotland)
32x37mm
Ref 5252
Beachy Head, Eastbourne
20x37mm
Alum Bay 7k roman 10k Bcn Cl 8k Bham 7k
Ref 5270
A Guiding Light, Alum Bay, Freshwater, Isle of Wight
32mm dia.
Ref 5272
The Roman Pharos at Dover, Britain's tallest suriving Roman building
34mm dia.
Ref 5236
Beacons CLose, London E6
30mm dia.
Ref 5257
First Day of Issue, Birmingham
28mm dia.
Eddy 11k Eddy 8k edknot 7k Seamk 7k
Ref 5280*
300th Anniversary Eddystone Lighthouse, Plymouth
35x42mm
Ref 5281
300 Years of the Eddystone Lighthouse, Plymouth
37mm dia. no frame
Ref 5285
300th Anniversary The Original Eddystone Light Plymouth
32x39mm
Ref 5256
Seamark, The Magazine all about Lighthouses, Loughborough, Leicestershire
37mm dia. no frame
FDPlym 7k Buro 8k London 6k Album 6k
Ref FD9806
Alternative Official FD Postmark, Eddystone Chart
31mm dia.
Ref FD9805
Official Philatelic Bureau FD Postmark, Inchkeith Chart
31mm dia.
Ref 5253
London FD Postmark
30mm dia.
Ref 5271
Lighthouse Albums sponsored postmark
32mm dia. no frame
Trinity 8k Trin Ed 9k St John 7k Sker 8k
Ref 5234
Corporation of Trinity House, London
30mm dia.
Ref 5235
Trinity House, Eddystone 1698-1998
30mm dia.
Ref 5266
St John's Point Lighthouse, Killough, Co. Down
32x38mm
Ref 5246*
Those Towers of Light, Skerries Court, Langley, Slough, Berkshire
43mm dia.
Farne 7k BTout 9k BTout 7k Smalls 7k
Ref 5259
Grace Darling, Herione of the Farne Islands, Bamburgh, Northumberland
38x22mm
Ref 5251
Belle Tout, Eastbourne
38mm dia.
Ref 5268
Belle Tout Lighthouse, Beachy Head, Eastbourne
29x32mm, no frame
Ref 5284
The Smalls Lighthouse, St David's, Haverfordwest, Wales
33x33mm, no frame>
Flannan 4k Ref 5306
Flannan Lighthouse, Flannan Islands, Lewis. Scotland - relevant to Scotland Lighthouse aerogramme. Postmark:42x38mm, no frame



* 5246 and 52.. are Royal Mail reference numbers
and not part of the postmarks.

For details of Royal Mail's
Lighthouse aerogrammes
issued with the stamps click here

If you have any questions or comments, or if you want e-mailed images or info on covers, e-mail to;

Norvic Philatelics


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