The Queenscliff Low Light, also known as the Queenscliff White Lighthouse, is a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

in the township of Queenscliff 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; ...

, 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 ...

. It stands inside 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 the lower slope of the Queenscliff Peninsula 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 ten most treacherous navigable passages in the world. It is operated by the

Port of Melbourne Corporation The Port of Melbourne Corporation (PoMC) is a statutory body established by the Victorian Government to develop and manage the Port of Melbourne, Australia's busiest container port. The Corporation commenced operations on 1 July 2003, when it t ...

.Lighthouses of Victoria

History

The light station was first established in 1854 with a prefabricated wooden lighthouse, which was dismantled in 1863 and moved to

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 ...

when the permanent lighthouse was built.Ibbotson (2004). The lamp and its housings were manufactured in England by

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 ...

. The light was converted to gas in 1890 and to electricity in 1924.

Operation

The main purpose of the lighthouse is to show a white light in range with the Queenscliff High Light as a guide for ships in the main channel entering Port Phillip. It is flanked by the skeletal Hume and Murray Towers, showing red and green lights respectively, that blink in unison with the lighthouse to provide a unique entrance pattern defining the correct course through the Rip.The Lighthouse Directory

Notes

Sources

* * Port Phillip Bellarine Peninsula Lighthouses completed in 1863 Lighthouses in Victoria (state) 1854 establishments in Australia Borough of Queenscliffe {{Australia-lighthouse-stub

History

Operation

See also

Notes

Sources