{"href":"https://api.simplecast.com/oembed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fspookycoop.simplecast.com%2Fepisodes%2Fsc-ep-67-the-smalls-lighthouse-incident-BG_28DXa","width":444,"version":"1.0","type":"rich","title":"SC-EP-67-The Smalls Lighthouse Incident Of 1801","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/38c0da71-9690-46f2-ae39-09397dd06d97/354a09bf-6dd8-4d35-bb3f-7c4c537968f3/cropped_1792262491229.jpg","thumbnail_height":300,"provider_url":"https://simplecast.com","provider_name":"Simplecast","html":"","height":200,"description":"In Episode 67 of Spooky Coop, hosts Michelle and Paul dive into one of the darkest, strangest, and most macabre true stories in maritime history: the Smalls Lighthouse incident of 1801.\n\nBuilt on a cluster of jagged rocks 20 miles off the coast of Pembrokeshire, Wales, the Smalls Lighthouse was an octagonal wooden structure designed on stilts so fierce storm waves could pass through underneath rather than knock it down. In late 1800, Trinity House assigned two men—Thomas Griffith (a tall, hot-tempered man) and Thomas Howell (a quiet, deeply religious man)—to a standard month-long shift operating the light. Locals knew the two men openly despised each other, making their isolation together a recipe for disaster.\nShortly after their rotation began, a relentless, violent gale battered the Welsh coast for nearly four months, trapping them. During the storm, Griffith suffered a severe illness or injury and ultimately died. Left entirely alone with his deceased arch-nemesis, Howell faced a horrifying dilemma: if he threw the body overboard, authorities would likely accuse him of murder.\n\nTo protect himself, Howell used spare timber and barrel staves from the workshop to build a crude coffin. With immense physical effort, he dragged Griffith’s body up to the high balcony and lashed the casket upright against the outer railings. However, the relentless gale tore the front planking loose. Griffith’s body remained largely intact, but his arm and head stuck out. Every time the wind blew, the unthinkable would happen.\n\nFor nearly four months, Howell was trapped inside with the elements and the macabre corpse. When a relief vessel finally reached the rock, they found the light still burning, but Howell was unrecognizable—his hair had turned completely white from trauma, he was emaciated, and he had lost his mind. Though cleared of wrongdoing, Howell was never the same.\n\nThe horrifying incident forced Trinity House and maritime authorities worldwide to change their policies, establishing a mandatory three-person minimum rule for lighthouses so that no keeper would ever be left completely isolated with a tragic situation again."}