Queenscliff High Light

Last updated

Queenscliff High Light
Queenscliff lighthouses.jpg
Queenscliff High Light
Queenscliff High Light
Location Port Phillip
Victoria
Australia
Coordinates 38°16′17.6″S144°39′42.6″E / 38.271556°S 144.661833°E / -38.271556; 144.661833 Coordinates: 38°16′17.6″S144°39′42.6″E / 38.271556°S 144.661833°E / -38.271556; 144.661833
Tower
Constructed1843 (first)
Construction bluestone tower
Height18 metres (59 ft)
Shapecylindrical tower with balcony and lantern
Markingsunpainted stone tower and green lantern and balcony
Power sourcemains electricity  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Operator Port of Melbourne Corporation
Light
First lit1862 (current)
Focal height40 metres (130 ft)
Range14 nautical miles (26 km)
Characteristic either F W or Oc. W 15s. depending on bearing

The Queenscliff High Light, also variously known as the Black Lighthouse, Fort Queenscliff Lighthouse or Shortland Bluff Light, stands in the grounds of Fort Queenscliff in Queenscliff, Victoria, Australia. It is one of three black lighthouses in the world, and the only one in the Southern Hemisphere. Together with the nearby white Queenscliff Low Light, it was built in 1862 to replace the former sandstone lighthouse of 1843 on the same site which was underpowered and deteriorating. [1]

Contents

The lightsource is located 40 metres above sea level (focal plane). Depending on the tower's bearing it emits either a fixed light or an occulting signal with an interval of 15 seconds. The black lighthouse is one of four in Queenscliff that are used as a leading line to guide ships through the notoriously dangerous mouth of Port Phillip Bay. [2]

History

There are several conflicting accounts of where the basalt for the building came from. One version states that it came from Scotland as a ships ballast. In another version, the stone was quarried in Melbourne and shipped to Queenscliff. The fact that the stone was shipped may have led to the former theory's conception. [1] The third version, according to current tour guides, is that the entire lighthouse was cut in Scotland, transported, and assembled on-site by numbers.

The lighthouse was certainly designed in Scotland. Strangely, although Shortland's Bluff on which it is built is 20m or more above sea level, it was designed as a wave-washed lighthouse, with curved walls to deflect shock from waves, and with an entrance 5m above the base which is still visible. This entrance was used via a rope ladder for the first ten years until a ground-level door was cut.

Fort Queenscliff was built around the lighthouse during the Australian Gold Rush after concerns that ships carrying gold might be susceptible to attack from privateers. The light was converted to gas in 1890, and then to electricity in 1924. It is supposed that the first public telephone service in Victoria was installed here. Today the lighthouse is unmanned and automated, and is serviced by the Port of Melbourne Corporation.

Reference to The Lighthouse

Henry Handel Richardson's book The Getting of Wisdom describes a ferry trip that bypasses the lighthouse in the late 1800s. [3]

Then the boat stood to sea again and sailed past high, grass-grown cliffs, from which a few old cannons, pointing their noses at you, watched over the safety of the Bay—in the event, say, of the Japanese or the Russians entering the Heads past the pretty township, and the beflagged bathing-enclosures on the beach below. They neared the tall, granite lighthouse at the point, with the flagstaff at its side where incoming steamers were signalled; and as soon as they had rounded this corner they were in view of the Heads themselves. From the distant cliffs there ran out, on either side, brown reefs, which made the inrushing water dance and foam, and the entrance to the Bay narrow and dangerous: on one side, there projected the portion of a wreck which had lain there as long as Laura had been in the world. Then, having made a sharp turn to the left, the boat crossed to the opposite coast, and steamed past barrack-like buildings lying asleep in the fierce sunshine of the afternoon; and, in due course, it stopped at Laura's destination.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Handel Richardson</span> Australian author (1870–1946)

Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson, known by her pen name Henry Handel Richardson, was an Australian author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Phillip</span> Bay in Australia

Port Phillip or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, narrow channel known as The Rip, and is completely surrounded by localities of Victoria's two largest cities — metropolitan Greater Melbourne in the bay's main eastern portion north of the Mornington Peninsula, and the city of Greater Geelong in the much smaller western portion north of the Bellarine Peninsula. Geographically, the bay covers 1,930 km2 (750 sq mi) and the shore stretches roughly 264 km (164 mi), with the volume of water around 25 km3 (6.0 cu mi). Most of the bay is navigable, although it is extremely shallow for its size — the deepest portion is only 24 m (79 ft) and half the bay is shallower than 8 m (26 ft). Its waters and coast are home to seals, whales, dolphins, corals and many kinds of seabirds and migratory waders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queenscliff, Victoria</span> Town in Victoria, Australia

Queenscliff is a small town on the Bellarine Peninsula in southern Victoria, Australia, south of Swan Bay at the entrance to Port Phillip. It is the administrative centre for the Borough of Queenscliffe. At the 2016 census, Queenscliff had a population of 1,315.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Rip</span> Waterway entrance in Victoria, Australia

"The Rip", also known as "The Heads", is the narrow waterway entrance connecting the Bass Strait to the bay of Port Phillip in southern Victoria, Australia, and is the only route of maritime transport into Port Phillip and thus seaport access into Melbourne and Geelong, Victoria's two largest cities. Because of large tidal flows through the relatively narrow channel from the bay to the ocean, and a high rocky seabed, The Rip is a dangerous stretch of water and has claimed numerous ships and many lives. Geographically, it is the roughly triangular area of water between the land points of Point Nepean on the Mornington Peninsula, Shortlands Bluff and Point Lonsdale on the Bellarine Peninsula, with these three forming The Heads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point Lonsdale</span> Town in Victoria, Australia

Point Lonsdale is a coastal township 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 Point Nepean, frame The Rip, the entrance to Port Phillip. The headland is dominated by the Point Lonsdale Lighthouse. At the 2016 census, Point Lonsdale had a population of 2,684. The population grows rapidly over the summer months through to the Easter period due to its popularity as a holiday destination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pensacola Light</span> Lighthouse in Florida, US

The Pensacola Light is a lighthouse at Pensacola Bay, in Florida. It is the third iteration of what was originally a lightship, the Aurora Borealis, and remains an aid to navigation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Split Point Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse

Split Point Lighthouse is a lighthouse located in Aireys Inlet, a small town on the Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swan Island (Victoria)</span> Town in Victoria, Australia

Swan Island is a 1.4 km2 sand barrier island which, with Duck Island and the Edwards Point spit, separate Swan Bay from Port Phillip in Victoria, Australia. It lies close to and north of the town of Queenscliff at the eastern end of the Bellarine Peninsula, and is an official bounded locality of the Borough of Queenscliffe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point Conception Light</span> Lighthouse in Santa Barbara County, California

Point Conception Light is a lighthouse in Santa Barbara County, California, on Point Conception at the west entrance of the Santa Barbara Channel, California. One of the earliest California lighthouses, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places on the Gaviota Coast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Table Bluff Light</span> Lighthouse in California, United States

Table Bluff Lighthouse is a lighthouse in California, United States, which was located on Table Bluff just south of Humboldt Bay. Built to guide vessels away from the notoriously dangerous and rough coastline and to let them know proximity of the nearby bay and entrance, the lighthouse was one of the first to be automated. The lighthouse tower portion is now located at the Woodley Island Marina within the City of Eureka.

<i>Ozone</i> (paddle steamer) Paddle steamer built in Scotland in 1886

The Ozone was a ship built in 1886 near Glasgow, in Scotland. It could exceed 17 kts and is regarded as one of the finest paddle steamers ever built.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Queenscliff</span> Historic commonwealth heritage site in Queenscliff VIC

Fort Queenscliff, in Victoria, Australia, dates from 1860 when an open battery was constructed on Shortland's Bluff to defend the entrance to Port Phillip. The Fort, which underwent major redevelopment in the late 1870s and 1880s, became the headquarters for an extensive chain of forts around Port Phillip Heads. Its garrison included volunteer artillery, engineers, infantry and naval militia, and it was manned as a coastal defence installation continuously from 1883 to 1946. The other fortifications and armaments around the Heads were completed by 1891, and together made Port Phillip one of the most heavily defended harbours in the British Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope's Eye</span> Uncompleted foundation for an island fort at Port Philip, Victoria, Australia

Pope's Eye is the uncompleted foundation for an island fort intended to defend the entrance to Port Phillip in the state of Victoria, Australia. The undefined area of the fort, generally assessed at 4 hectares, is one of six separate areas that comprise the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park and is a popular site for divers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Channel Fort</span> Island in southern Port Phillip, Victoria, Australia

South Channel Fort, also known as South Channel Island, is a 0.7 ha artificial island in southern Port Phillip, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north-east of the town of Sorrento. It was part of a network of fortifications protecting the narrow entrance to Port Phillip.

<i>The Getting of Wisdom</i>

The Getting of Wisdom is a novel by Australian novelist Henry Handel Richardson. It was first published in 1910, and has almost always been in print ever since.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Port Phillip</span>

Port Phillip, sometimes referred to as Port Phillip Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia, 1,930 km² in area, with a coastline length of 264 km (164 mi). The bay is extremely shallow for its size, but mostly navigable. The deepest portion is only 24 m, and half the region is shallower than 8 m. Its volume is around 25 km³. The city of Melbourne is located at its northern end, near the mouth of the Yarra River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Nepean</span>

Fort Nepean is a former defensive facility occupying part of Point Nepean, Victoria, Australia. It was part of a network of fortifications, commanded from Fort Queenscliff, protecting the narrow entrance to Port Phillip. It is now part of Point Nepean National Park and a local tourist attraction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point Lonsdale Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse

Point Lonsdale Lighthouse, also known as the Point Lonsdale Signal Station, is close to the township of Point Lonsdale in the Borough of Queenscliffe, Victoria, Australia. It stands at the eastern end of the Bellarine Peninsula, on the western side of the entrance to Port Phillip from Bass Strait, on a headland overlooking the "Rip", a stretch of water considered one of the ten most treacherous navigable passages in the world, and the only seaborne approach to Melbourne. It is operated by Victorian Ports Corporation (Melbourne).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queenscliff Low Light</span> Lighthouse

The Queenscliff Low Light, also known as the Queenscliff White Lighthouse, is a lighthouse in the township of Queenscliff in the Borough of Queenscliffe, Victoria, Australia, at the eastern end of the Bellarine Peninsula. It stands inside the entrance to Port Phillip from Bass Strait, on the lower slope of the Queenscliff Peninsula overlooking the ’Rip”, 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.

References

  1. 1 2 "The Black Lighthouse at Fort Queenscliff". Lighthouses of Victoria. Lighthouses of Australia Inc.
  2. Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Australia: Victoria". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  3. The Getting of Wisdom by Henry Handel Richardson. Chapter XIX