Who owns the Wyre Light?

Fleetwood Civic Society are beginning a campaign to rescue the Wyre Light lighthouse in Morecambe Bay, as it is falling into disrepair.
Pictured L-R are: Ken and Margaret Daniels, William Hargreaves, Yvonne and Iain Johnstone (NOTE TO RICHARD- the Light was utterly obscured by rain and mist!). PIC BY ROB LOCK
19-8-2016 — Fleetwood Civic Society are beginning a campaign to rescue the Wyre Light lighthouse in Morecambe Bay, as it is falling into disrepair. Pictured L-R are: Ken and Margaret Daniels, William Hargreaves, Yvonne and Iain Johnstone (NOTE TO RICHARD- the Light was utterly obscured by rain and mist!). PIC BY ROB LOCK 19-8-2016

Fleetwood Civic Society plans to put together a funding bid to repair the crumbling structure to prevent it failing beneath the sea and being lost forever.

But before any such grant can be seriously looked at, the group is required to know who owns it and to get their consent for any work done.

The Civic Society, which insists Wyre Light is of important historic value, says all the organisations they have questioned insist they do not own it.

Wyre Light, Fleetwood, during a previous Wreck Treck event.

Likely candidates Wyre Council, Associated British Ports and Trinity House – an organisation which owns many lighthouses in Britain – say it isn’t them.

The Society has also contacted another big land owner in the county, the Duchy of Lancaster.

But Margaret Daniels, chairman of Fleetwood Civic Society, believes a fear of having to fork out for repair work may be putting the actual owners off and making them reluctant to come forward.

REPAIRS

She said: “It is worth pointing out that we would not expect the owner of Wyre light to pay for any repair work.

“We would just need to get permission from them to allow any repair work to be done.

“Without that knowldge, it is unlikely we would get a grant.”

A spokesman for Associated British Ports said: “Given the Wyre Light’s extensive 176-year maritime history, ABP is equally interested in fully understanding the  ownership history of this  important Fleetwood structure.”

A Wyre Council spokeswoman said that investigations indicated the lighthouse was not part of its property portfolio.

And Trinity House said it had never owned Wyre Light.

There was speculation that Wyre might own the structure because the lighthouse passed into the control from the Duchy of Lancaster to the Board of Fleetwood in the Victorian era.

The Board was the forerunner to the original Fleetwood Council, which then became part of Wyre Council after the major UK-wide municipal changes of 1974.