Medieval Lighthouses

A new work in Pharology

When it is published, Medieval Lighthouses will become the second volume of three in Ken Trethewey's Pharology Series. The first volume, Ancient Lighthouses (2018), presented a complete description of how humans first developed their ideas of lighted aids to navigation and how the lighthouse was first conceived and built. The book covers the period from the first years when humans travelled by water to the year 400 when the Roman Empire had grown used to relatively safe and effective sea transport with its own network of lighthouses.

In this second volume, Medieval Lighthouses, the period from 400 to 1700 will be covered, a span of time that ranges from the Dark Ages (500 to 1000) through the Middle Period to the start of the Industrial Age. The book is expected to be published in 2023.

The third and final volume of the series will cover Lighthouse Engineering and Lighthouses of the Industrial Age from 1700 to the Present Day. Expected publication date - 2025

Medieval Lighthouses is one of a very few books in recent years that will seriously address the subject of Medieval lighthouses and their origins. The scope will be expansive and will bring readers to the beginning of the Industrial Age - the contents of Volume 3.

Ken Trethewey is a pharologist with more than five decades experience. His ancestors were lighthouse keepers across five generations, and his great-great grandfather was a “Keeper of the Eddystone Light.” Professionally, he is a retired marine engineer and educator specializing in materials in engineering systems and has written a successful book about corrosion. Since retiring in 2009 he has concentrated on publishing books on lighthouses.