Editing Lighthouse (section)

===Location===
[[File:Faro Les Éclaireurs, Ushuaia 11.JPG|thumb|The [[Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse]] in [[Ushuaia]], [[Argentina]].]]
[[File:Kapu Beach Lighthouse .jpg|thumb|[[Kapu, Karnataka|Lighthouse]] located on a higher mound in India<!-- Replace caption with location and name of lighthouse -->]]
[[File:Europa Point Lighthouse.jpg|thumb|Lighthouse at [[Europa Point]], [[Gibraltar]]]]
There are two types of lighthouses: ones that are located on land, and ones that are offshore. <!-- A ''land lighthouse'' is simply a lighthouse constructed to aid navigation over land, rather than water. Historically, they were constructed in areas of flatland where the featureless landscape and prevailing weather conditions (e.g. winter [[fog]]) might cause travelers to become easily disorientated and lost. In such a landscape a high tower with a bright lantern could be visible for many miles.

One example of such a structure is [[Dunston Pillar]], an 18th-century tower built to help travelers crossing the [[heathland]] of mid-[[Lincolnshire]] and to lessen the danger to them from [[highwayman|highwaymen]]. Due to general improvements in transport and navigation throughout the 19th century, land lighthouses became almost totally obsolete as aids to travelers in remote places. In 1940, Dunston Pillar was truncated by 40 feet to preserve low-flying RAF planes.

NOTE: These two paragraphs are unsourced and very misleading. Many, if not most, lighthouses erected to warn watercraft of hazards are built on land. Lighthouses intended to aid navigation on land appear to be very rare. The Dunston Pillar may be unique. -->

''Offshore Lighthouses'' are lighthouses that are not close to land.<ref name="SeaGirt">{{Citation | title     = Lighthouse Terminology Part 2 | work     = Sea Girt Lighthouse | url     = http://www.seagirtlighthouse.com/page/Lighthouse-Terminology-Part-2.aspx | postscript     = . | quote     = A lighthouse located offshore, built on a foundation of pilings, rocks or caissons. | access-date     = 15 February 2013 | archive-date     = 4 April 2013 | archive-url     = https://web.archive.org/web/20130404003030/http://www.seagirtlighthouse.com/page/Lighthouse-Terminology-Part-2.aspx | url-status     = dead }}</ref> There can be a number of reasons for these lighthouses to be built.  There can be a [[shoal]], [[reef]] or submerged [[island]] several miles from land.

The current [[Cordouan Lighthouse]] was completed in 1611, {{convert|7|km|mi}} from the shore on a small islet, but was built on a previous lighthouse that can be traced back to the 880s and is the oldest surviving lighthouse in [[France]]. It is connected to the mainland by a causeway. The oldest surviving oceanic offshore lighthouse is [[Bell Rock Lighthouse]] in the [[North Sea]], off the coast of [[Scotland]].<ref name="Cadbury2012">{{Citation | last1     = Cadbury | first1    = Deborah | title     = Seven Wonders of the Industrial World | edition   = Text only | publisher = HarperCollins UK | page      = 106 | year      = 2012 | isbn      = 978-0007388929 | url       = https://books.google.com/books?id=KHhkY0XVXFwC&pg=PA106 | postscript= .}}</ref>