Australian_Geographic_-_October_2015_

September–October 2015 51

Coast guards

Until 1915 the lighthouses of each state were managed by different bodies, so their designs vary widely.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ANTHONY CALVERT

Cape Wickham,

TAS (1861)

Bass Strait icon soaring
above the feared northern
shores of King Island.
Completed in 1861, 11
flights of stairs ascend this
48m-high structure, which
is the tallest lighthouse
tower in the Southern Hemisphere.

Cape Leeuwin,

WA (1895)

For 120 years this beacon

has been an imperious

presence on the continent’s

south-western tip. This

186-step, wind-battered

tower was fashioned from

rough-hewn limestone

quarried nearby.

Macquarie,

NSW (1818)

After the

original

stonework

started to crumble, Australia’s first

proper lighthouse was rebuilt in 1883,

replicating colonial architect Francis

Greenway’s original design with

spacious quarters added below.

Cape Byron,

NSW (1901)

More than

1 million

visitors a year

make the

pilgrimage to Australia’s eastern-most

headland. Here one of the last light-

houses to be built in the James Barnet

style overlooks spectacular Byron Bay.

Cape Otway,

VIC (1848)

Our oldest intact
lighthouse was lit to
mark the north-western
entrance to Bass Strait.
Seventy men built the
tower in 10 months
using stone transported
5km from the Parker River.

Smoky Cape,

NSW (1891)

An elegant

James Barnet

design, which was

constructed from

concrete using octagonal formwork.

It’s topped by voussoir blocks sup-

ported on moulded granite cantilevers

and also features ornate staircases.

Cape Borda,

SA (1858)

This unusual 10m-tall

stone square tower

was erected in 1858

atop 150m-high cliffs

on the remote north-

western tip of SA’s Kangaroo Island.

It still retains its historic Deville

lantern room.

Wollongong Head,

NSW (1936)

Completed in 1936 to help

guide vessels into Port

Kembla, the reinforced

concrete tower on Flagstaff

Hill features an unusual

fluted column design. It

was Australia’s first fully

automatic electric lighthouse.

Mersey Bluff,

TAS (1889)

This squat white
lighthouse – sited
near the mouth of
Devonport’s Mersey
River – was made even
more distinctive with the addition of
four vertical red stripes on the tower’s
seaward side in 1929.

Split Point,

VIC (1891)

An eye-catching

landmark on Victoria’s

Great Ocean Road,

the 34m-tall Split

Point Lighthouse dates

from 1891 and is best

known for its starring role in ABC

television show Round the Twist.

North Reef,

QLD (1878)

The keepers lived in

the base of this iron-

clad, timber-framed

structure on a

lonely coral reef

100km north-east

of Gladstone – a

sand island has now formed around it.

Maatsuyker

Island, TAS (1891)

Australia’s most

southerly lighthouse was

completed in 1891 at a cost

of £8500 (about $2 mil-

lion today) and features

a rendered-and-painted,

red-brick cavity wall, plus slate floors

from Mintaro in SA.

Point Malcolm,

SA (1878)

Australia’s only

inland lighthouse

was constructed on a

headland of Poltalloch

Station to guide boats

through Lake Alexand-

rina on their passage to Lake Albert,

or upstream to the River Murray.

Point Charles,

NT (1893)

An unusual 32m-

tall lighthouse

featuring a slender

cast-iron tower with

a spiral staircase that’s

braced by an external steel frame.

Completed in 1893, it was the first

lighthouse in the NT.

Point Hicks,

VIC (1890)

First lit in 1890, this

imposing tower on the

remote Victorian coast

of East Gippsland was one

of Australia’s first concrete

lighthouses and boasts a

cast-iron staircase cantile-

vered from the walls.