Candlestick Chimney

Perched on the cliffs overlooking Whitehaven Harbour, the Candlestick Chimney is one of the town's most iconic landmarks. While it looks like a decorative tower, it is actually part of the Wellington Pit which was in use from 1840-1933. The pit was designed by architect Sydney Smirke and the entire Wellington Pit complex was designed to look like a medieval castle, complete with crenellated walls and a grand lodge which still stands today. Sounds like it might have been the fanciest pit in the land!

The candlestick chimney was built between 1840 and 1845 and was a boiler house flue or chimney for the steam engines inside the mine. The design is very elaborate for something so functional, and is thought to have been modelled on a specific candlestick from the dining table at Whitehaven Castle owned by the Lowther family. The family were major local mine owners and were responsible for building the harbour at Whitehaven. You may have also visited their fairy tale castle near Penrith: Lowther Castle

There are few other parts of the complex which still remain and the old Wellington Lodge just down from the chimney is now used by HM Coastguard as a rescue station. This lodge would have originally been used as the gatehouse and offices for the pit and is an iconic building on the harbour. If you walk around the site, you can also see the red sandstone perimeter walls. These were built with the same crenellated tops as the lodge to maintain the castle-like aesthetic of the Lowther family's estate. The rest of the site including the winding houses were demolished in 1969.

The pit was in use for around 100 years and saw some disasters in its lifetime, the worst occurring in May 1910. 136 people lost their lives in the disaster which began with an explosion potentially caused by a damaged safety lamp. The mine was sealed off a few days after the explosion to starve the fires of oxygen, but it was several months before it was re-opened and deemed safe to enter. It was not until May 1911 that work in the mine was restarted and it finally became redundant in 1933. Just below the chimney is a plaque that commemorates those who died and reads:

"In memory of the men, women and children who lost their lives in the Whitehaven Disctrict Collieries."