Brass Bulkhead Lights

What is solid brass, and why it suits a bulkhead

A bulkhead is a wall inside a ship, and the bulkhead light was the sturdy lamp fixed to it. Brass suited the job: an alloy of copper and zinc with no iron in it, so it cannot rust, only tarnish, darkening slowly in air and rain. Our brass bulkheads keep that nautical form, and every one is solid brass with glass: brass all the way through rather than a thin plating over another metal, so wear or a scratch only ever reveals more brass.

Raw or antique brass bulkheads: choosing how they age

Raw brass starts bright and golden and the weather does the rest, darkening it over time to a deep brown patina, sooner on a wall near the sea. Antique brass begins where raw brass is heading, already aged and darker, so it sits easily beside old stone or weathered timber from the day it goes up.

Care follows the finish. A brass polish brings raw brass back to bright whenever you choose, or you can let the patina build. Antique brass is best left unpolished, since polish lifts the aged tone. With either finish, a soft cloth keeps the glass clear.

Round and oval bulkheads, from 11.5cm to 24cm wide

We stock round and oval brass bulkheads. A round face suits a symmetrical doorway or a pair either side of a gate; an oval one sits well on a narrow strip of wall between a door frame and a downpipe. A few have an eyelid, a hood curving over part of the glass, and a few have a guard across the glass.

Each product page gives its width, length and depth. The smaller sizes stay in proportion with a cottage porch; the larger ones read better on a broad gable or a shopfront.

IP64 and IP44: where a brass bulkhead can go

Every light in the range is rated IP64 or IP44. The first digit covers solids: a 6 means dust-tight, while a 4 keeps out objects larger than 1mm. The second covers water, and on both ratings it is a 4, protection from water splashing from any direction, which is what rain does to an outside wall.

Most of the range is IP64, which also suits a dusty drive, a stable or a workshop door; a few are IP44. Neither rating is meant for jets of water, which need a 5, or immersion, which needs a 7, so do not aim a pressure washer at them, and keep them clear of ground that floods.

Lamps and cable entry on our brass bulkheads

Each light holds a single lamp. Most take an E27, a large screw cap, and the rest a G9, a small two-pin capsule, with wattage in the 10–25W band for many and 25–50W for some. The majority are sold without a lamp, so check the cap and wattage on the product page and buy one to match.

Most also let you choose where the cable enters, with a gland that can go at the end or the rear and a brass blank to close the opening you do not use. Some take the cable at the rear only, and a few at the end only. Rear entry suits a cable already in the wall behind the light; end entry suits one run along the surface. As mains fittings, they should be installed by a qualified electrician.

Placing brass bulkheads around a house, pub or boathouse

A matching pair either side of a front door, or a run at even spacing along a garden wall or pub frontage, reads as one scheme. Keep lights that sit together in one finish, so raw brass weathers at a similar pace and antique brass matches from day one. The nautical shapes look at home on a boathouse, a beach hut or a sailing club, and beside a brass knocker on a painted door.