Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • Seashaken Houses

  • A Lighthouse History from Eddystone to Fastnet
  • By: Tom Nancollas
  • Narrated by: David Monteath
  • Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (97 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Seashaken Houses cover art

Seashaken Houses

By: Tom Nancollas
Narrated by: David Monteath
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £11.09

Buy Now for £11.09

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Attention All Shipping cover art
Daunderlust cover art
The Turning Tide cover art
The Good Soldier Svejk cover art
Jack Tar cover art
Great and Horrible News cover art
Brilliant Beacons cover art
A Man Called Intrepid cover art
England's Villages cover art
The Totorore Voyage cover art
The Starship and the Canoe cover art
The Lighthouse cover art
Modern Nature cover art
My Family and the Galapagos cover art
Home from Distant Seas cover art
The Toilers of the Sea cover art

Summary

Lighthouses are striking totems of our relationship to the sea. For many, they encapsulate a romantic vision of solitary homes amongst the waves, but their original purpose is much more utilitarian than that. Still today we depend upon their guiding lights for the safe passage of ships. Nowhere is this truer than in the rock lighthouses of Great Britain and Ireland, a ring of 19 towers built between 1811-1905, so called because they were constructed on desolate rock formations in the middle of the sea, and made of granite to withstand the power of its waves.  

Seashaken Houses is a lyrical exploration of these singular towers, the people who risked their lives building and rebuilding them, those that inhabited their circular rooms, and the ways in which we value emblems of our history in a changing world.

©2018 Tom Nancollas (P)2019 Audible, Ltd

What listeners say about Seashaken Houses

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    69
  • 4 Stars
    23
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    68
  • 4 Stars
    13
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    58
  • 4 Stars
    22
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

A relaxing, interesting listen with some great history. Really enjoyed this book. Highly recommended will definitely be listening again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Perfect!

I love this! Been listening to audible for years to help with insomnia and this is my new favorite! Stories of cold weather beaten buildings and the people who built them. Just the right amount of information (not bombarded with names and dates) and beautiful prose. Highly recommended...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

what a great surprise

bowled over by this book. hooked from the first chapter, the performance is spot on, but the content, stories, history and the writing engaged me totally.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Exceptionally captivating

Really loved this book. Didn’t know what to expect, but the storytelling was so good, the narration was perfect and it was so interesting. Would absolutely recommend.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A fascinating and moving book

I'd never thought much about the history of lighthouse construction until a visit to the museum at Hynish on Tiree last year which documented the story of Skerryvor lighthouse. You can just about see this lighthouse from a high point on Tiree on a clear day but there is a large scale model in the museum which reveals what a beautiful structure it is and blows the mind as to how it was built. That experience and listening to this book has made a lasting impression on me and although I will probably never get the chance to see one up close, I think they will live in my imagination for as long as I live as symbols of the good mankind can be capable of.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Thoroughly enjoyable

I really enjoyed this book, certainly one that can be listened to again quite quickly.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A great book

A great book beautifully read. Full of atmosphere and not just detailed facts. I would highly recommend this.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Thrilling read

This is a wonderfully informative read about an important part of our island story. The performance matches it in excellence.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Really good.

A very informative, interesting and educational book, but at the same time incredibly easy to listen-to.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating look at rock light houses

Interesting details on the way in which the lighthouses were built and lived in. Well narrated.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!