Point Lonsdale Lighthouse, also known as the Point Lonsdale Signal Station, is close to the township of

Point Lonsdale Point Lonsdale is a town on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Queenscliff, Victoria, Australia. The town is divided between the Borough of Queenscliffe and the City of Greater Geelong. Point Lonsdale is also one of the headlands which, with Poin ...

in the

Borough of Queenscliffe The Borough of Queenscliffe is a Local government areas of Victoria, local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the southern part of the state. It is the smallest local governmen ...

Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

. It stands at the eastern end of the

Bellarine Peninsula The Bellarine Peninsula (Wadawurrung language, Wadawurrung: ''Balla-wein'' or ''Biteyong'') is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together wi ...

, on the western side of the entrance to

Port Phillip Port Phillip (Kulin languages, Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped bay#Types, enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, ...

from

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The ...

, on a headland overlooking

The Rip The Rip is the narrow waterway entrance connecting the Bass Strait to the Port Phillip Bay in southern Victoria, Australia, and is the only route of maritime transport and thus seaport access into Melbourne and Geelong, Victoria's two larg ...

, a stretch of water considered one of the more treacherous navigable passages in the world, and the only seaborne approach to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. It is operated by the

Victorian Ports Corporation (Melbourne) The Victorian Ports Corporation (Melbourne) (VPCM) is a statutory authority of the Government of Victoria created to succeed the Port of Melbourne Corporation as the government regulator of shipping in Port Phillip Bay after the lease of the Port ...

Description

The current lighthouse, completed in 1902, was designed by the Victorian Public Works Department and erected by the contractors Coate Brothers. It is of a traditional design consisting of a cylindrical tower and

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

, similar to many late-nineteenth-century Victorian lighthouses, such as the earlier

Point Hicks Point Hicks (formerly called Cape Everard), is a coastal headland in the East Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia, located within the Croajingolong National Park. The point is marked by the Point Hicks Lighthouse that faces the Tasman Se ...

Lighthouse. It is notable for its early use of

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...

and is surmounted by a

Chance Brothers Chance Brothers and Company was an English glassworks originally based in Spon Lane, Smethwick, West Midlands (county), West Midlands (formerly in Staffordshire), in England. It was a leading glass manufacturer and a pioneer of British glassma ...

lantern. The original oil lighthouse lamp was replaced with an

acetylene Acetylene (Chemical nomenclature, systematic name: ethyne) is a chemical compound with the formula and structure . It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is u ...

light and later with an electric light. Surrounding its base is the

octagon In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a ...

al, two-storey, brick signal station and observation room. Halfway up the tower is a

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...

ed platform supporting red and green

navigation light A navigation light, also known as a running or position light, is a source of illumination on a watercraft, aircraft or spacecraft, meant to give information on the craft's position, heading, or status. Some navigation lights are colour-code ...

History

The first navigation aid at Point Lonsdale was a signal station erected in 1852. In 1856, a red pillar beacon was built. In 1863, the original Queenscliff Low Light, a prefabricated wooden structure, was re-erected at Point Lonsdale and painted with distinctive black and red bands. It used a temporary light until a permanent light was lit in 1867. The wooden lighthouse was replaced by the current concrete tower in 1902, and the wooden tower was dismantled and cut up for

firewood Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not heavily processed, and is in some sort of firelog, recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellet fuel, pellets. ...

in 1912.Lighthouses of VictoriaIbbotson (2004), pp.95-97. In 1915, responsibility for the light passed from the

state of Victoria Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

control. It was handed back in 1934, with the lighthouse classified as a “Harbour Entrance Light” rather than a "Coastal Highway Light". The

signal station A signal station is a form of Navigational aid, Aids to Navigation that is defined by the International Hydrographic Organization, IHO simply as "A signal station is a place on shore from which signals are made to ships at sea". While this broad de ...

and observation room were added to the base of the tower in 1950. Although the light was automated in 1999, the signal station continues to be staffed, and controls the movements of commercial shipping within designated areas both outside and inside Port Phillip Heads, making it possibly the last staffed lighthouse in Australia.

Heritage values

The Point Lonsdale Lighthouse precinct contains not only the lighthouse itself, but other buildings associated with lighthouse operations and navigation, as well as nearby military defence structures built during the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

Second World Wars World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The whole precinct is considered to be of

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

and

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

significance to the State of Victoria, and has been listed by Heritage Victoria, with the Victorian Heritage Database number H1517.Heritage Victoria The structure is of historical significance because of its association with the maritime and defence history of the state. The lighthouse structures in the precinct show the importance of navigational aids at a time when shipping was vitally important in maintaining trade between Port Phillip and the rest of the world. The lighthouse was the first guiding light to the entrance of Port Phillip visible from the sea. The defence structures reflect the importance of the defence of Port Phillip and its major cities of

and

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

during both World Wars. The lighthouse precinct buildings, including a

foghorn A foghorn or fog signal is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines, or boats of the presence of other vessels, in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport. ...

shed built in 1884 and an explosives shed (later used as a rocket shed) built in 1891, are of architectural significance. The lighthouse is a typical and aesthetically pleasing example of an early 20th-century lighthouse design. The foghorn shed is the only one known from a Victorian lighthouse, and the one Gardner Engine that remains on site sends compressed air to two vertical holding tanks which power the foghorn, all rare in their original setting. The precinct is of archaeological significance for its potential to reveal artefactual remains pertaining to the use of the site as a light station and signal station.

The lighthouse today

The exterior of the lighthouse was restored in 1997 and, in 2002, Heritage Victoria and the

Victorian Channels Authority Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

cooperated to restore the interior. Celebrations marking the centenary of the structure were held on 23 March 2002. The restored

is operated in foggy weather, giving a double blast every 30 seconds. There is public access to the area around the tower, and organised tours are conducted on Sundays by the

Queenscliffe Maritime Museum The Queenscliffe Maritime Museum is a regional maritime museum in the town of Queenscliff, Victoria, Queenscliff at the entrance from Bass Strait to the bay of Port Phillip in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, south-eastern Australia. It lies wi ...

.Ibbotson (2004), p.257.The Lighthouse Directory The marine waters around the lighthouse are protected within the

Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park The Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park is a marine protected area located in the vicinity of the bay of Port Phillip, between the Bellarine and Mornington Peninsulas, in Victoria, Australia. The marine national park comprises six separate ...

References

Sources

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External links

Point Lonsdale Lighthouse webcams
{{Authority control Port Phillip Bellarine Peninsula Octagonal buildings in Australia Lighthouses completed in 1902 Lighthouses in Victoria (state) 1902 establishments in Australia Maritime museums in Australia Lighthouse museums in Australia Borough of Queenscliffe