Grotto Point Light

Last updated

Grotto Point Light
Port Jackson Entrance Range Front
Grotto Point Light.jpg
Grotto Point Light
Grotto Point Light
Location Balgowlah Heights
New South Wales
Australia
Coordinates 33°49′3.97″S151°15′41.64″E / 33.8177694°S 151.2615667°E / -33.8177694; 151.2615667
Tower
Constructed1910
Constructionmasonry and brick tower [1]
Height26 feet (8 m) [2]
Shapecylindrical tower with domed roof
Markingswhite tower
OperatorSydney Harbour National Park
Light
First lit1911
Focal height61 feet (19 m)
Lenscatadioptric lens
Rangewhite :12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi)
red / green: 9 nautical miles (17 km; 10 mi)
Characteristic flashing(4) WRG 15s.
white on range, red right, green left, obscured other

Grotto Point Light, also known as Port Jackson Entrance Range Front Light, is an active lighthouse located at Grotto Point, a rocky headland at the southernmost tip of Balgowlah Heights, New South Wales, Australia, on the north side of Sydney Harbour. It serves as the front range light, Rosherville Light serving as the rear light, into Port Jackson. Rosherville Light is located almost exactly 1 mile (1.6 km) (1,690 yards (1,550 m) to be exact) behind Grotto Point Light.

Contents

History

A 1939 view of the lighthouse Grotto Point Light 1939 2.png
A 1939 view of the lighthouse

The decision to build the range lights was taken in 1909. Construction began in 1910 and the light was first lit on September 1, 1911. It is one of four lighthouses in a style sometimes called "Disney Castle", the others being Rosherville Light, Vaucluse Bay Range Front Light and Vaucluse Bay Range Rear Light. [3]

The original light source was a carbide lamp (acetylene gas) which was initially generated on-site, and later replaced by compressed gas cylinders brought by boat. [4]

Later, the light was electrified and connected to the mains electricity.

Structure

The structure is a masonry and brick domed tower, attached to two barrel-vaulted service sections in decreasing heights, all painted white. The structure is surrounded by a white picket fence. The light is shone through a 2 by 1 metre (6.6 ft × 3.3 ft) horizontal slit, about two-thirds of the way up the tower.

The lens is a catadioptric apparatus.

Site operation

The light is operated by the Sydney Ports corporation while the site is managed by the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water as part of the Sydney Harbour National Park. [4]

Visiting

The site is accessible by a short hike from Castle Rock track. The grounds are open but the tower is closed to the public.

See also

References and notes

  1. According to the fact-sheet. Concrete according to The Lighthouse Directory.
  2. According to The Lighthouse Directory and the fact-sheet. "SeaSide Lights" says 13 feet (4.0 m)
  3. Morcombe, John (7 August 2015). "The master mariner who was a leading light behind the leading line". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Grotto Point Lighthouse". Lighthouses of Australia Inc. 21 January 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2023.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Jackson</span> Body of water in Sydney, Australia

Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea. It is the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. The location of the first European settlement and colony on the Australian mainland, Port Jackson has continued to play a key role in the history and development of Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macquarie Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse in New South Wales, Australia

The Macquarie Lighthouse, also known as South Head Upper Light, is the first, and is the longest serving, lighthouse site in Australia. It is located on Dunbar Head, on Old South Head Road, Vaucluse in the Municipality of Woollahra local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The lighthouse is situated approximately 2 kilometres (1 mi) south of South Head near the entrance to Sydney Harbour. There has been a navigational aid in this vicinity since 1791 and a lighthouse near the present site since 1818. The current heritage-listed lighthouse was completed in 1883. The lighthouse and associated buildings were designed by James Barnet and built from 1881 to 1883.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hornby Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse in New South Wales, Australia

Hornby Lighthouse, also known as South Head Lower Light or South Head Signal Station, is a heritage-listed active lighthouse located on the tip of South Head, New South Wales, Australia, a headland to the north of the suburb Watsons Bay. It marks the southern entrance to Port Jackson, as well as lighting the South Reef, a ledge of submerged rocks. It is the third oldest lighthouse in New South Wales. Designed by Mortimer Lewis and listed on the Register of the National Estate and on the New South Wales State Heritage Register since 2 April 1999, with the following statement of significance:

A dominant Sydney landmark which appears to have been in continuous use since the 1840s as a controlling point for shipping entering and leaving Port Jackson. The building complex, designed by the Colonial Architect Mortimer Lewis in the early 1840s, is an architectural important example of an early Victorian public work associated with port activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bremerhaven Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse in Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, Germany

The Bremerhaven Lighthouse, also known as the Simon Loschen Tower or Loschen Lighthouse, is the rear light of a pair of leading lights at the New Harbour of Bremerhaven, Germany. It is the oldest operative lighthouse on the mainland along Germany's North Sea shore and is counted among the city's landmarks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradleys Head Light</span> Lighthouse in New South Wales, Australia

The Bradleys Head Light is an active heritage-listed lighthouse at Bradleys Head, a headland protruding from the north shore of Sydney Harbour, within Mosman, Mosman Council, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is the sibling of Robertson Point Light. The site is owned and managed as part of the Sydney Harbour National Park by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, an agency of the Government of New South Wales; while the light is managed and operated by Sydney Ports Corporation. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 18 April 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Channel Pile Light</span> Lighthouse in New South Wales, Australia

Eastern Channel Pile Light, also known as the East Wedding Cake due to its shape, is an active pile lighthouse located at the Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia, off Laings Point in the Vaucluse suburb of Sydney. It marks the eastern end of the Sow and Pigs Reef.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Denison Light</span> Lighthouse in New South Wales, Australia

Fort Denison Light, also known as Pinchgut Light, is an active lighthouse located on top of a Martello Tower at Fort Denison, a former penal site and defensive facility occupying a small island in Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. The island is located downstream from the Harbour Bridge near Potts Point and the Royal Botanic Gardens. The fort is also known as "Pinchgut" lending its name to the light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiama Light</span> Lighthouse in New South Wales, Australia

Kiama Light, also known as Kiama Harbour Light, is an active lighthouse in Kiama, New South Wales, Australia. The lighthouse is located close to the Kiama Blowhole on Blowhole Point, south of Kiama Harbour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robertson Point Light</span> Lighthouse in New South Wales, Australia

Robertson Point Light, also known as Cremorne Point Light, is an active lighthouse in Cremorne Point, a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is the sibling of Bradleys Head Light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parriwi Head Light</span> Lighthouse in New South Wales, Australia

Parriwi Head Light, also known as Rosherville Light and Port Jackson Entrance Range Rear Light, is an active lighthouse located just off Parriwi Road, near Rosherville Reserve on the south side of Middle Harbour in Mosman, New South Wales, Australia. It serves as the rear range light, Grotto Point Light serving as the front light, into Port Jackson. Grotto Point Light is located almost exactly 1 mile (1.6 km) in front of Parriwi Head Light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaucluse Bay Range Front Light</span> Lighthouse in New South Wales, Australia

Vaucluse Bay Range Front Light is an active lighthouse located on the east side of the entrance to Vaucluse Bay in Vaucluse, New South Wales, Australia. It serves as the front range light into Vaucluse Bay. The distance between the lights is 945 metres (3,100 ft).

Vaucluse Bay Range Rear Light is an active lighthouse located on the east side of the entrance to Vaucluse Bay in Vaucluse, New South Wales, Australia. It serves as the rear range light companion to the Vaucluse Bay Range Front Light, into Vaucluse Bay. The distance between the two lights is 945 metres (3,100 ft).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point Stephens Light</span> Lighthouse in New South Wales, Australia

The Point Stephens Light is a heritage-listed active lighthouse located on Point Stephens, a point on an unnamed headland at the east of Fingal Bay, 4.25 km (2.64 mi) south of the entrance of Port Stephens, New South Wales, Australia. The light serves to assist vessels entering Port Stephens. It is considered an endangered lighthouse due to remote location and old age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shark Island Light</span> Lighthouse in New South Wales, Australia

Shark Island Light is an active pile lighthouse located just north of Shark Island, an island in Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. Its light is only visible on in the fairway of the harbour, between Shark Point and Point Piper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Channel Pile Light</span> Lighthouse in New South Wales, Australia

Western Channel Pile Light, also known as the West Wedding Cake due to its shape, is an active pile lighthouse located at the Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia, off Georges Head at Mosman. It marks the western end of the Sow and Pigs Reef. It collapsed in December 2006 and was reconstructed and restored to operation in December 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wollongong Head Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse in New South Wales, Australia

The Wollongong Head Lighthouse, also known as Flagstaff Hill Lighthouse or Flagstaff Point Light, is an active lighthouse located adjacent to the heritage-listed Wollongong Harbour precinct in Wollongong, a coastal city south of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It overlooks the Tasman Sea from the top of Flagstaff Point, directly east of the city centre. Wollongong is the only place in the east of Australia to have two lighthouses located in close proximity of each other, the other being Wollongong Breakwater Lighthouse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warden Head Light</span> Lighthouse in New South Wales, Australia

Warden Head Light, also known as Ulladulla Lighthouse, is an active lighthouse on Warden Head, a headland south of Ulladulla, New South Wales, Australia, guarding the entrance to the Port of Ulladulla. It is one of only two wrought iron 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sea Hill Light</span> Lighthouse

Sea Hill Lighthouse, also known as Sea Hill Point Light or Little Sea Hill Light, is a lighthouse on the northwest point of Curtis Island, Gladstone Region, Queensland, Australia. Its purpose was to mark the east side of the entrance to Keppel Bay, on passage to Fitzroy River and Port Alma. The first lighthouse at the locations was constructed in 1873 or 1876, moved in the 1920s, and is now on display at the Gladstone Maritime Museum. A second lighthouse was constructed in 1895 and its state is unclear.