Tevennec Lighthouse

Would you spend two months in a lighthouse with a reputation of driving people insane? One man took on the challenge to raise awareness for Tevennec Lighthouse in hopes of restoring it but after one failed attempt, not sure if he has completed his task much less kept his sanity while doing it.

Tevennec Lighthouse is located in the Raz de Sein strait off the coast of Brittany, France. It was built in 1871 and first lit in 1875. The first keeper Henri Guezennec couldn't handle the long periods of time alone and succumbed to madness. He claimed he heard voices shouting to him to leave. Considering the Tevennec had a dark reputation prior to the lighthouse being built, perhaps he did hear voices.

Tevennec was a place where the dead was taken, well according to folklore that is. It was also the place where the mythical Ankou, the Breton grim reaper, supposedly resided. Such stories were fueled by the fact that if you had a boat with no engine, you would be automatically taken to Tevennec by the waves.

After Guezennec, the most logically step for the one to replace him would be a job for two instead of one. In 1893, two keepers began their one year residence at the lighthouse. One died unexpectedly. Thus, beginning a string of deaths. In 1897, a keeper resided there with his wife. The keeper died and his wife was forced to live with his corpse until they could be collected. The third keeper died in his bed. The fourth lived there with his elderly father. The man found his father dead in his bed with a slit throat from a shaving razor. There are other stories of a child dying there and a keeper who supposedly died from falling on a knife. A priest was even called in to exorcise the property but it may have been a failure. The last residing keeper's wife was in the middle of giving birth when a wall was destroyed by waves.

It was decided in 1910, to make the lighthouse fully automated. Twenty-three keepers have tended to it but no one has lived there since. With a mythical grim reaper allegedly living there and multiple deaths, it's not surprising visitors have had ghost sightings.

 

Sources:


Comments

Paul Robinson said…
Followed this in the French press, and TV sites (ex pat Brit/Irish living in the 59, northern France), and the tone varies wildly from sarcastic mickey taking, to concentrating on fact he did it for charity, and his stay lengthened by the bad weather, to those who use it as proof ghosts exist. Frankly the history more fascinating than the ghost stories. This is the first report i've read in English. Bon Dimanche, from a mad Ulsterman living Chez les Ch'tis biloutes.
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