The Beacon stood on the site of the eastern corner of Everton church. It
was a square tower of two stories, and approached from the present
Church-street by a little lane. Church-street was then a sandy winding
road, having on one side the open heathery-hill, and on the other a low
turf wall which enclosed the fields called "the Mosses," which were
indeed little better than marshes. The Beacon was constructed of the red
sandstone taken from the vicinity. I am no antiquarian, so that I can
give but a poor opinion of its original date of erection. It was said by
some to have been of great age--long previous to the time of Queen
Elizabeth. Some even ascribed it to the time of the Earl of Chester; but
a learned friend of mine once told me, when talking on this subject, that
that could not have been the case, as Beacons were not erected in tower
shapes until after the time of Edward the Third. Beacons, previously to
that period, were merely lighted fires in cressets, grates, baskets of
large size, or of faggots piled up. Everton Beacon certainly looked very
old and dilapidated, and had stood the shock and buffet of some
centuries. Its size was about six yards square; its height twenty-five
feet. The basement floor was on a level with the ground, and was a
square room in which there was, in one corner, a fireplace, much knocked
about and broken. There was also a flight of narrow stone steps which
led to the upper chamber. It was utterly bare of any fittings whatever;
but in the walls were indications of there having been fixtures at some
time. There being no door to it the cattle which grazed on the hill had
access to it at all times of storm or wind or heat, or as their bovine
inclinations should prompt them to seek shelter, so that the floor, which
was unflagged, was always in a very dirty state. On ascending the stairs
access was obtained to the upper apartment which was lighted by a broad
window facing the westward. This room had been used as a sleeping
apartment by the guard or custodian of the Beacon, the window serving as
a look-out. I believe the combustibles used in lighting up the signals
were stored in it, the lower room being occupied as the common living
chamber. From the upper room a flight of stone steps led upon the roof
or outer platform. In the south-west corner was a large stone tank in
which the signal fires were lighted. It seemed to have been subjected to
the action of intense heat. At one corner was a sort of pent-house which
served as a shelter for the watchman in inclement weather. On the east
wall a gooseberry bush flourished surprisingly. How it came there no one
knew--it had long been remembered in that position by every one who knew
anything about the Tower. A few years previous to the date I speak
about, the Beacon was occupied by a cobbler who carried on his trade in
it, and eked out a living by grazing a cow and some goats on the common
land in the vicinity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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