Editing Lowestoft (section)

==Landmarks==

=== Ness Point ===
[[Ness Point]], the [[Extreme points of the United Kingdom|most easterly location in the United Kingdom]], is located in the town close to a 126-metre [[wind turbine]], known locally as Gulliver.<ref>{{Cite web |title='Gulliver' the Tallest Wind Turbine in the UK – Ness Point Information |url=https://www.ness-point.co.uk/information/tallest-wind-turbine-in-the-uk-gulliver/ |access-date=2022-07-23 |language=en-US}}</ref> At the time it was completed it was the country's tallest.<ref name="gulliver">[https://www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/content/articles/2004/12/14/lowestoft_wind_turbine_feature.shtml Suffolk's first turbine], BBC Suffolk, 2007. Retrieved 21 April 2011.</ref>

At the most easterly point is a large compass rose, the ''Euroscope'', set in the ground to give the direction and distance to various cities in [[Europe]].<ref name="ness">[https://www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/content/articles/2008/09/01/ness_point_murphy_feature.shtml The mess that is Ness], BBC Suffolk, 2008. Retrieved 21 April 2011.</ref>

=== Sparrows Nest ===
Belle Vue Park (Sparrows Nest) is the site of the [[Royal Naval Patrol Service]] memorial. The central depot for the service was in Lowestoft when it was mobilised in August 1939, on a site known as Sparrow's Nest, adjacent to the memorial. The memorial has the names of the 2,385 members of the service who died in World War II.<ref name="memorialist" /> Prior to this, it was the site of the "North Battery", which stood on the cliff and was constructed in around 1782. It was a four sided bastion set back from the cliff edge, housing four 18-pounder canon, with a guardhouse and magazine to the rear. All traces are now gone, minus two cannons with are now mounted around the memorial.<ref>{{Cite web |title=North Lowestoft Heritage Action Zone, Lowestoft, Suffolk: Landscape assessment {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/research/results/reports/90-2019 |access-date=2022-07-23 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}}</ref>

===Lighthouse===
{{main|Lowestoft Lighthouse}}
[[File:Lowestoft Denes lighthouse - geograph.org.uk - 229057.jpg|Lowestoft Lighthouse|thumb|right]]
[[Lowestoft Lighthouse]], built in 1874 to the north of the town centre, stands 16 metres high at 37 metres above sea level, with a range of {{convert|23|nmi|km}}. It was automated in 1975.<ref name="trinityhouse">[http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouses/lowestoft.html Lowestoft] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110414043256/http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouses/lowestoft.html |date=14 April 2011}}, Trinity House. Retrieved 30 April 2011.</ref> It is the United Kingdom's most easterly [[lighthouse]].

The first two lighthouses in Lowestoft were built in 1609 on the foreshore and candlelit, to warn of the dangerous sandbanks around the coast. These were the first constructed by [[Trinity House]]. The Low Light was discontinued in 1706 after sea encroachment, but re-established in 1730 in a form that could be easily moved in response to further changes to the Stamford Channel and shoreline. It was discontinued in August 1923. The High Light tower was rebuilt as the present lighthouse in 1874<ref name="lightlist"/> with the intention of displaying an electric light, but when opened paraffin oil was used instead; not until 1936 was it electrified. The lighthouse, with two cottages originally for lighthouse keepers, is a Grade II [[listed building]].<ref name="lightlist">[http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-391372-high-lighthouse-including-north-cottage- High Lighthouse Including North Cottage and South Cottage, Waveney], ''British Listed Buildings''. Retrieved 23 October 2012.</ref>

[[Pakefield Lighthouse]], the second remaining lighthouse, can be found on the coast south of Lowestoft, between [[Pakefield]] and the village of [[Kessingland]]. Originally constructed in 1831 and decommissioned in 1864, Pakefield lighthouse is now looked after by volunteers from Pakefield Coastwatch, who operate it as a coastal surveillance station.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pakefield Coastwatch |url=http://www.pakefieldcoastwatch.co.uk |website=Pakefield Coastwatch |access-date=5 March 2025}}</ref>

===Lifeboat station===
{{main|Lowestoft Lifeboat Station}}
Lowestoft Lifeboat Station, at the mouth of the outer harbour at the South Pier, is one of Britain's oldest, founded in 1801 and open to visitors throughout the year.<ref name=rnli>[http://rnli.org/findmynearest/station/Pages/Lowestoft-Lifeboat-Station.aspx Lowestoft Lifeboat Station], [[Royal National Lifeboat Institution]]. Retrieved 15 March 2014.</ref> The lifeboat is ''[[RNLB Patsy Knight (ON 1312)|Patsy Knight]]'', a [[Shannon class lifeboat]] which replaced the [[Tyne class lifeboat|Tyne class]] boat ''[[RNLB Spirit of Lowestoft (ON 1132)|Spirit of Lowestoft]]'' in 2014. A former Lowestoft lifeboat was used during the [[Dunkirk evacuation]] of British forces from France in 1940.<ref name=rnli/> The [[South Broads Lifeboat Station]], an inland [[RNLI]] station, operated at [[Oulton Broad]] in 2001–2011.<ref name=rnliob>[http://rnli.org/NewsCentre/Pages/South-Broads-RNLI-lifeboat-station-to-close.aspx South Broads RNLI lifeboat station to close], [[Royal National Lifeboat Institution]], 14 November 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2014.</ref>

===Town Hall===
{{main|Lowestoft Town Hall}}
[[File:Lowestoft Town Hall, Historic High Street.jpg|thumbnail|left|Lowestoft Town Hall]]
Lowestoft Town Hall stands in the High Street. Various forms of local government have met or been based on this site since its establishment as a Town House and Chapel in 1570. In 1698 a new Town House was built, incorporating a [[market cross|corn cross]] on the ground floor with the meeting chamber and chapel above. This in turn was replaced by the present building, designed by architect J. L. Clemence in 1857.<ref name=halllist>[http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-391325-town-hall-suffolk#.VeNysrTpjdk Town Hall, Lowestoft], British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 30 August 2015.</ref> The building houses the town clock and the curfew bell, which dates from 1644 and is rung each evening at 8 p. m.<ref>[http://www.waveney.gov.uk/site/scripts/download.php?fileID=2326 Welcome to Lowestoft Town Hall] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912061407/http://www.waveney.gov.uk/site/scripts/download.php?fileID=2326 |date=12 September 2015}}, Waveney District Council. Retrieved 30 August 2015.</ref> The building is a [[Listed building|Grade II listed building]].<ref name=wdc2015hall>[http://www.waveney.gov.uk/townhallsite The future of Lowestoft Town Hall] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623164538/http://www.waveney.gov.uk/townhallsite |date=23 June 2015}}, Waveney District Council website, April 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2015.</ref>

In 2012, Waveney District Council announced that it planned to leave the town hall and share [[Suffolk County Council]]'s offices in Riverside Road. This occurred in 2015.<ref name=wdc2015hall/>


===Gull Wing Bridge===
{{main|Gull Wing Bridge}}
The Gull Wing Bridge is a rolling [[bascule bridge]] that spans [[Lake Lothing]] in the town of Lowestoft, Suffolk, England, and is the largest bridge of its kind in the world to date.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Kanaris |first=Sotiris |date=2022-10-21 |title=Future of Bridges {{!}} Lowestoft's record-breaking, congestion-busting bascule bridge |url=https://www.newcivilengineer.com/the-future-of/future-of-bridges-lowestofts-record-breaking-congestion-busting-bascule-bridge-21-10-2022/ |access-date=2022-12-04 |magazine=New Civil Engineer |language=en}}</ref><ref name="gullwingsize">{{Cite web |date=2024-03-09 |title=Final stage of Gull Wing Bridge installation begins in Lowestoft |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4nmer67nl5o |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>

The bridge's surface consists of a two-lane [[single carriageway]] with pedestrian and cycle footpaths on both sides. The bridge maintains a speed limit of {{cvt|30|mi/h|km/h|-1}} for road traffic.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lake Lothing Third Crossing |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/643633/Annex_A_Part4_.pdf |website=assets.publishing.service.gov.uk |access-date=23 November 2021 |page=4 }}</ref>

The bascule span of the bridge, which opens up southwards when required,<ref>{{cite web |title=Lake Lothing Third Crossing |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/643633/Annex_A_Part4_.pdf |website=assets.publishing.service.gov.uk |access-date=23 November 2021 |page=5 }}</ref> lies around {{convert|12|m}} above water level during high tides,<ref>{{cite web |title=Lake Lothing Third River Crossing |url=https://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0029/254396/Consultation-Lake-Lothing-Third-River-Crossing-pc140918.pdf |website=broads-authority.gov.uk |access-date=22 November 2021 |page=2 |date=2018}}</ref> with the space between the two main spans in the water being around {{convert|35|m}} - safety features fitted to the span walls limit shipping with a maximum width of {{convert|32|m}} to be able to pass through its channel.<ref>{{cite report|last=Horne|first=Stephen|title=Lake Lothing Third Crossing|url=https://gullwingbridge.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Navigation-Risk-Assessment.pdf|website=gullwingbridge.co.uk|date=February 2021|access-date=23 November 2021|publisher=Suffolk County Council|p=9}}</ref> The Northern Approach Viaduct (NAV) has ground clearance of around {{convert|6|m|adj=on}} over the railway line to {{rws|Lowestoft}} station for trains.<ref>{{cite report|last1=Surl|first1=Rob|last2=Baker|first2=Ian|last3=Diver|first3=Thomas|last4=Santhakumar|first4=R|title=Lake Lothing Third Crossing Business Case |url=https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/wp-content/ipc/uploads/projects/TR010023/TR010023-000372-7.4%20-%20Outline%20Business%20Case.pdf|website=infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk|access-date=23 November 2021|date=June 2018|p=55}}</ref> Road access in the south is via Waveney Drive, while in the north it is via Peto Way and Denmark Road.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Lake Lothing (Lowestoft) Third Crossing Order 201[*] |url=https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/wp-content/ipc/uploads/projects/TR010023/TR010023-000414-7.8%20-%20Mitigation%20Route%20Map.pdf |website=infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk |access-date=20 November 2021 |page=2 |date=June 2018}}</ref>