Vlamingh Head Lighthouse is a lighthouse which is situated to the north of the settlement of

Exmouth, Western Australia Exmouth is a town on the tip of the North West Cape and on Exmouth Gulf in Western Australia, north of the state capital Perth and southwest of Darwin. The town was established in 1967 to support the nearby United States Naval Communicatio ...

, overlooking Lighthouse Bay. The lighthouse is notable as being one of the few locations in Australia where both the sunrise and the sunset can be observed.

History

The first recorded sighting of this part of Australia was by the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

sailor Haevik Claezoon van Hillegom in 1618. His countryman

Willem de Vlamingh Willem Hesselsz de Vlamingh (November 1640 – ) was a Dutch sea captain who explored the central west coast of New Holland (Australia) in the late 17th century, where he landed in what is now Perth on the Swan River. The mission proved fruit ...

then charted the headland in 1696. In 1801

Nicolas Baudin Nicolas Thomas Baudin (; 17 February 1754 – 16 September 1803) was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific. Biography Early career Born a comm ...

named the area Cape Murat. The north west coast of Australia had been regarded as dangerous for many years. This coastline is one of the most hazardous stretches of coast in the world and the building of a lighthouse on this coast had long been considered. In 1907 a board of enquiry was set up and the captains of numerous coastal vessels were questioned to obtain their views on the best sites to build lighthouses on. Out of these, four locations were selected where lighthouses would be built in the subsequent two years. However, the wreck of the off the

North West Cape North West Cape is a peninsula in the north-west of Western Australia. Cape Range runs down the spine of the peninsula and Ningaloo Reef runs along the western edge. It is in the Gascoyne region and includes the town of Exmouth. History In 16 ...

in 1907 led to Vlamingh Head, a site which had been proposed by a number of ships' masters to the Board of Enquiry but had not gained sufficient support. Being recommended as the fifth lighthouse along this stretch of coast, in 1909 the Harbour and Lights Department announced that a lighthouse was to be constructed at Vlamingh Head. Construction of the lighthouse started in November 1911, but it was to be delayed by bad drinking water, outbreaks of

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complication ...

among the labourers and the requirement to transport all of the building materials and supplies by sea from

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

. The lighthouse started operations on 10 November 1912 with a light that could be seen for up to . The light took two lighthouse keepers to keep its light burning. The light used

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning " wax", and was reg ...

and flashed twice every 7.5 seconds. Keepers' quarters were provided nearby and the supplies of fuel and the keepers' provisions landed on the beach and transported to the lighthouse by horse-drawn carriages on a tramway. The lighthouse operated for sixty years up to 1969 when the light was replaced by a light mounted on tower 11 at the US Naval Communications

VLF Very low frequency or VLF is the ITU designation for radio frequencies (RF) in the range of 3–30 kHz, corresponding to wavelengths from 100 to 10 km, respectively. The band is also known as the myriameter band or myriameter wave as ...

site at

Point Murat Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

(

Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt is a joint Australian and United States naval communication station located on the north-west coast of Australia, north of the town of Exmouth, Western Australia. The station is operated and maintai ...

). In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the North West Cape was an important refuelling depot for US Navy ships and an airbase was developed at Learmonth which led to a radar station being built near the lighthouse. In 1953 a cyclone caused considerable damage to both the airbase and the radar station and caused extensive damage to the lighthouse and keepers' quarters, with the keepers themselves doing much of the repair work themselves.

Tourism

The lighthouse has become a tourist attraction and the end of a scenic drive from Exmouth. The Ningaloo Lighthouse Holiday Park is situated close to the Vlamingh Head Lighthouse. Tourists are attracted by the landscape, the sunset and whale watching with information panels are provided to assist in interpretation of the site.

References

External links

Lighthose website
{{authority control Lighthouses in Western Australia State Register of Heritage Places in the Shire of Exmouth Shire of Exmouth