This iron-walled watchroom sits atop the granite tower and holds up the bronze-and-glass lantern room. The engineer’s report of 1906 described the watchroom as “standing on the granite deck containing pedestal, clock and revolving apparatus for the light.”
The watchroom also served over the years as a library for the lighthouse keepers.
Panoramic view of the iron watchroom, above the top of the granite tower and below the lantern room. Click on image to get the full view.
The ceiling of the level below the lantern room. See the spiral staircase at about 7 o’clock in the picture. The hexagonal skylights are made of round, sun-colored amethyst glass panes. They are original.
UPDATE, September 2014: We sandblasted everything you see in the above pictures, finding the ceiling and doors to be made of solid brass or bronze. We coated the freshly cleaned bronze with a transparent sealant, primed all the steel and cast iron, repaired corroded steel and iron, and painted the steel walls and fixtures with a white epoxy, and the cast iron staircase with a black epoxy paint. We removed the skylights, took them ashore, repaired them, and re-installed them. Because there were no windows in this room, we installed century-old brass portholes for light, ventilation and authenticity. Below are the first before-and-after pictures.
The Watch Room at Graves Light, before initial cleaning and painting (left) and after sandblasting and first coats of primer and paint (right).
