Warden Head Light, also known as Ulladulla Lighthouse, is an active lighthouse on Warden Head, a

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, Joh ...

south of

Ulladulla Ulladulla is a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia in the City of Shoalhaven local government area. It is on the Princes Highway about south of Sydney, halfway between Batemans Bay to the south and Nowra to the north. Ulladulla has c ...

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, Australia, guarding the entrance to the Port of Ulladulla. It is one of only two

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...

lighthouses in New South Wales, the other being its sibling, Wollongong Breakwater Lighthouse. It is also notable for two relocations: the tower was constructed in 1873 on the Ulladulla Breakwater, and relocated in 1889 to its current location. Its keeper's house was relocated to a different location in the 1920s.

History

First recommendations for construction of a lighthouse at the Ulladulla Harbour were made in 1868, enabling night activity at the port. Construction of a lighthouse at the Ulladulla Harbour breakwater was initiated by Edward Orpen Moriarty MA MInstCE, Engineer in Chief of the New South Wales Harbours and Rivers Department, together with a second lighthouse at Belmore Basin,

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near w ...

. Both lighthouses were designed by Colonial Architect's Office, then under Colonial Architect

James Barnet James Johnstone Barnet, (1827 in Almericlose, Arbroath, Scotland – 16 December 1904 in Forest Lodge, Sydney, New South Wales) was the Colonial Architect for Colonial New South Wales, serving from 1862 to 1890. Early life Born the son of ...

. Tenders were invited in October 1869 by the Public Works Department, and both lighthouses were constructed by Joseph Mather, Wollongong Breakwater Lighthouse in 1872 and Warden Head Lighthouse in 1873. The original light source was oil wick with a light intensity of 800 cd, with a

Chance Brothers Chance Brothers and Company was a glassworks originally based in Spon Lane, Smethwick, West Midlands (formerly in Staffordshire), in England. It was a leading glass manufacturer and a pioneer of British glassmaking technology. The Chance f ...

optical apparatus, which is still present. It displayed a fixed white light (F.W.). In 1889 the lighthouse was relocated to its current location on Warden Head, under the supervision of James Barnet, still the Colonial Architect. In 1920 the light source was replaced with a

carbide lamp Carbide lamps, or acetylene gas lamps, are simple lamps that produce and burn acetylene (C2H2) which is created by the reaction of calcium carbide (CaC2) with water (molecule), water (H2O). Acetylene gas lamps were used to illuminate buildings ...

, automated and demanned. The characteristic was changed to a flashing one. In 1922, the keeper's house, no longer required, was relocated to Milton to be used as a

doctor's office A doctor's office in American English, a doctor's surgery in British English, or a doctor's practice, is a medical facility in which one or more medical doctors, usually general practitioners (GP), receive and treat patients. Description D ...

. In 1964 the tower was electrified. The current power source is a 110 V DC battery, charged from the

mains electricity Mains electricity or utility power, power grid, domestic power, and wall power, or in some parts of Canada as hydro, is a general-purpose Alternating current, alternating-current (AC) electric power supply. It is the form of electrical power t ...

. The current light source is a 120 V, 1,000 W, quartz halogen lamp with an intensity of 28,000 cd, visible for The current light characteristic is a group of two flashes every 10 seconds (Fl.(2)W. 10s).''List of Lights'' In the 1940s a car park was developed at Warden Head by the Ulladulla Council to encourage visitors to the lighthouse. In 2008 the lighthouse was renovated. The

lead Lead is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metals, heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale of mineral hardness#Intermediate ...

based paint was stripped, the tower was repainted, and structural repairs were made.

Light keepers

The first Lighthouse keeper was William Gambell. Records of the Ulladulla public school show he had five children at the school. Records of the Milton Post Office of 1904 list "Hansen J. Lighthouse keeper (Ulladulla)". The Ulladulla Post Office directory of 1904 lists "Brassington A, - lighthouse keeper".

Structure

The tower is made of riveted wrought iron plates forming the shell. The plates which were created Joseph Mather's foundry at

and assembled on the original site on the Ulladulla Breakwater. It is high, with an additional buried in the

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most ...

foundation. The structure is divided by three timber floors, connected by iron ladders. On top of the wrought iron shell is a small balcony supported by cast iron brackets, with a plain iron handrail.

Warden Head

Warden Head is named after

shipwright Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

s brothers David and James Warden. It was previously called Long Nose Point.

Site operation and visiting

The light and the tower are operated by

Transport for NSW Transport for NSW, sometimes abbreviated to TfNSW, and pronounced as Transport for New South Wales, is an List of New South Wales government agencies, agency of the Government of New South Wales, New South Wales Government established on 1 Novem ...

. The grounds are accessible by road and parking is available, but the tower itself is closed to the public.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * * {{Authority control Lighthouses completed in 1873 Lighthouses in New South Wales 1873 establishments in Australia Relocated buildings and structures in Australia