ABSTRACT
A lighthouse stands on the North Sea’s Suffolk coast–a thirty-metre tapered column of red and white painted masonry, capped by a trellis-glazed lantern. When Trinity House decided to decommission the lighthouse, they consulted with the National Trust about a possible transfer of ownership or a lease agreement. The lighthouse —which English Heritage had listed in 2008 as a Grade II building of “special architectural or historic interest” — would cede its ground to the sea. A heritage practice that privileges persistence over preservation allows the threatened heritage object to remain relevant and resonant, beyond the point of apparent disintegration. Central to such an approach is a willingness to acknowledge and attend to the uncertainty that arises in the negotiation of the transition between life and death—and to understand palliative care not only as an ending, but also as an opening into many possible futures.
