Moreton Island Moreton Island (Mulgumpin) is an island on the eastern side of Moreton Bay on the coast of South East Queensland, Australia. The Coral Sea lies on the east coast of the island. Moreton Island lies northeast of the Queensland capital, Brisbane. ...

is a large

sand island A sand island is an island that is mostly made of sand. The largest sand island in the world is K'gari, Australia. Other examples of large sand islands are Moreton, North Stradbroke and Bribie Islands which lie south of K'gari (Fraser Island ...

on the eastern side of

Moreton Bay Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are ...

, on the coast of

South East Queensland South East Queensland (SEQ) is a Bioregion, bio-geographical, Megalopolis, metropolitan and Statistics, statistical Regions of Queensland, region of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Due to the island's importance in navigating the northern passage into Moreton Bay and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, at least five lighthouses were constructed on the island, starting with

Cape Moreton Light Cape Moreton Light, also listed as North Point Range Rear Light, is a heritage-listed active lighthouse located on Cape Moreton, a rocky headland located at the north eastern tip of Moreton Island, a large sand island on the eastern side of Mor ...

in , the first lighthouse in Queensland, and followed by at least four more lighthouses established from the 1860s, at Comboyuro Point, North Point, Cowan Cowan Point and Yellow Patch. Comboyuro Point Light, Cowan Cowan Point Light and Yellow Patch Light all had to be moved from their original location due to

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of Wind wave, waves, Ocean current, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts ...

. Of the five lighthouses, only Cape Moreton Light survived and is still active today.

Background

In 1825, Brisbane was established as a

penal settlement A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer t ...

. In spite of the hazards, the preferred access to Moreton Bay and Brisbane was through the southern entrance, between Moreton Island and

North Stradbroke Island North Stradbroke Island (Janday language, Jandai: ''Minjerribah''), colloquially ''Straddie'' or ''North Straddie'', is an island that lies within Moreton Bay in the Australian state of Queensland, southeast of the centre of Brisbane. Original ...

, mainly due to shorter

shipping route A sea lane, sea road or shipping lane is a regularly used navigable route for large water vessels (ships) on wide waterways such as oceans and large lakes, and is preferably safe, direct and economic. During the Age of Sail, they were determined b ...

and better shipping conditions. The southern entrance was therefore marked in 1825 and a

pilot station A pilot station is an onshore headquarters for maritime pilots, or a place where pilots can be hired from. To get from a pilot station to an approaching ship, pilots need to use fast vessels to arrive in time, i.e. a pilot boat. History Histor ...

was established at

Amity Point Amity is a coastal town and locality on North Stradbroke Island in the City of Redland, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Amity had a population of 453 people. It is known as ''Pulan Pulan'' by the traditional owners, the Quandamoo ...

on North Stradbroke Island in 1827. Although the northern entrance was considered in the 1830s, it was only with the increased shipping activity due to the proclamation of Moreton Bay as a free settlement in 1842 that vessels began to use the northern entrance.

Buoy A buoy (; ) is a buoyancy, floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. History The ultimate origin of buoys is unknown, but by 1295 a seaman's manual referred to navig ...

s marking the entrance were laid in 1846–1847, and in 1848 the Pilot Station was moved to Cowan Cowan on Moreton island and then to Bulwer. By then the northern entry was regarded as the main entry.

Cape Moreton Light

Cape Moreton Light is located on

Cape Moreton Cape Moreton is a rocky headland at the north eastern tip of Moreton Island in South East Queensland, Australia. The surrounding area is part of the Moreton Island National Park. Flinders Reef is north-west of Cape Moreton. The outcrop is mos ...

, a rocky

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Jo ...

at the northeastern tip of Moreton Island, and was the first lighthouse to be constructed to mark the northern entrance. The lighthouse was constructed by the

New South Wales Government The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the executive state government of New South Wales, Australia. The government comprises 11 portfolios, led by a ministerial department and supported by several agencies. Th ...

, which controlled the Queensland area until Queensland's separation in 1859, following Brisbane residents petitions in 1850, and was first displayed in February 1857. From the five lighthouses, it is the only one still extant. Since its conversion to

solar power Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to c ...

VRB-25 The VRB-25 is a lighthouse optical system designed and built by Vega Industries Ltd. in Porirua, New Zealand. It was originally designed in 1993–95 with the assistance of the United States Coast Guard to meet USCG requirements for a robust m ...

in 1993, it shows

light characteristic A light characteristic is all of the properties that make a particular somewhat navigational light identifiable. Graphical and textual descriptions of navigational light sequences and colours are displayed on nautical charts and in Light Lists ...

of four white flashes, separated by 3.3 seconds, every 20 seconds (Fl.(4)W. 20s), visible for .

Comboyuro Point Light

Comboyuro Point Light, which was also known later as Comboyuro Light, was located Comboyuro Point, at the north western tip of Moreton Island.

North Point Light

North Point Light, also known as North Point Hummock Light, was located on North Point, the most northern point on Moreton Island.

Cowan Cowan Point Light

Cowan Cowan Point Light, was also known as Cowan Cowan Light or Cowan Point Light, was located on Cowan Cowan Point, on the western shore of Moreton Island.

Yellow Patch Light

Yellow Patch Light was located about southwest of North Point. An 1877 book describes it as a high wooden tower, showing a fixed white light.Findlay, p. 883. Yellow Patch Light also suffered from coastal erosion. In 1882 it had to be shifted to the northeast, and by 1891 it was moved four times. A 1909 listing describes it as a square wooden lightroom, carrying a fixed fourth order

dioptric Dioptrics is the branch of optics dealing with refraction, especially by lenses. In contrast, the branch dealing with mirrors is known as ''catoptrics''. Telescopes that create their image with an objective that is a convex lens ( refractors) are ...

apparatus. The light shown was red and white sectors, visible for . The 2010 ''List of Lights'' does not list a light at the location.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Buildings and structures in South East Queensland Lighthouses in Queensland Moreton Island