Smoky Cape Lighthouse
| Smoky Cape Lighthouse | ||
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| Place: |
South West Rocks New South Wales Australia |
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| Location: | Smoky Cape | |
| Geographical location: | 30 ° 55 '22.4 " S , 153 ° 5' 14.5" O | |
| Height of tower base: | 111 m | |
| Fire height : | 128 m | |
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| Identifier : | Fl (3) W 20s. | |
| Scope knows: | 26 nm (48.2 km ) | |
| Optics: | Fresnel | |
| Operating mode: | electric | |
| Function: | Orientation fire | |
| Construction time: | 1891 (automated 1988) | |
| International ordinal number: | K 2796 | |
Smoky Cape Lighthouse is an Australian Heritage Active Lighthouse located on Smoky Cape , a headland in Arakoon east of the city of South West Rocks , New South Wales . The lighthouse is located within Hat Head National Park and is used for orientation at the entrance to the Macleay River , which is directly north of the lighthouse.
It is one of the last major lighthouse complexes designed by the New South Wales government architect James Barnet and was one of the last lighthouses in Australia to be designed with architectural quality in mind. Standing on a granite peninsula 111 m above sea level, the light is the highest in New South Wales.
The lighthouse was listed as a memorial on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on April 2, 1999 .
history
The South West Rocks area caught the eye of early explorers for its distinctive coastal geography. On May 13, 1770, James Cook observed smoke on the headland during his voyage, which led him to call the cape "Smoky Cape". The first Europeans went ashore here in 1816, when the brig "Trial", which was captured by convicts, was aground in Trial Bay . The explorer John Oxley then visited the area in 1817. Trial Bay was seen early on as a valuable harbor for ships and protection against southern storms, as the bay faces north and is halfway between Sydney and Brisbane . At the time, ships were the most important means of transport for the cities on the east coast.
More than twenty ships wrecked in the area around the headland, some of them with fatalities. Three men died when the ketch " Woolloomooloo " ran aground in Trial Bay in 1864 and nine in the wreck of the brig "Annie Ogle" in 1875. A number of ships were wrecked in the bay itself, with more ships around the headland and in the Beach areas further south were lost. An initial move to erect a beacon on Smoky Cape was taken by Alexander Kethel , a member of the West Sidney constituency in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly , who passed a resolution in 1886 saying that it was necessary for the good of shipping to have one Erect lighthouse at Smoky Cape.
£ 18,000 was allocated for the construction. Colonial architect James Barnet, who played an important role in the planning and construction of various lighthouses in New South Wales, selected the location and prepared the planning documents. Major organizational changes took place during the design phase. James Barnet was fired in 1890 and the project was then turned over to CW Darley, "Chief Engineer for Ports and Rivers." However, Barnet's original design of the tower was retained.
The tender for the work began in January 1889, with the offer from Oakes and Company was successful. The contract provided for the construction of the tower with an outbuilding, lighthouse keeper's apartment, attached auxiliary keeper's house, coach house and stables. All of them should be erected on an area of 81 hectares at a height of up to 111 meters. Construction was already well advanced by the end of 1889, and a message was sent to the seafarers informing them of the construction of the lighthouse, with later details being given. The contractor Oakes died during the construction, but it was completed by his heirs within budget.
The lighthouse went into operation on April 15, 1891. The official dedication ceremony, attended by Darley and members of the Marine Board, took place on April 29, 1891. In 1912 the original light source was replaced. In 1962 an electric lamp and a new type of thrust bearing stand system were installed.
As a result of the Commonwealth Lighthouses Act of 1911, management of the lighthouse was transferred to the federal administration in 1915 due to its importance as a beacon for coastal shipping. Since 1939 the lighthouse has been a site of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology for collecting weather data. During the Second World War , the lighthouse district was used for military purposes. At the time there was a searchlight battery , a light cannon, and perhaps a radio room. The remains of concrete from the military installation are still visible.
In 1962 the light was electrified and automated around 1988, the optical system is still the original first order Fresnel lens .
On May 14, 1998, Smoky Cape was the first NSW Parks and Wildlife Service lighthouse to open its grounds for viewing, but the lighthouse itself is not accessible.
Construction
The construction of the tower is unusual because of its octagonal layout and was designed because it was easier to cast the tower in the octagonal formwork than in a round one. It has a one-story pavilion entrance, a cast-iron staircase and a striking gunmetal railing . It is one of only three in- situ concrete lighthouses in New South Wales (the others are South Solitary Island Lighthouse and Green Cape Lighthouse ). The fact that the beacon has its original turning mechanism and lens made by Chance Brothers , as well as the original lantern house, makes it an important example of late 19th century industrial engineering.
description
Surroundings
Smoky Cape is located to the southeast of South West Rocks, a seaside resort at the mouth of the Macleay River , 35 kilometers northeast of Kempsey and halfway between Coffs Harbor and Port Macquarie . South West Rocks has a variety of beaches that point in different directions. To the east of the community is Laggers Point, which extends northwest and below which lies a west-facing beach. Trial Bay Gaol Prison on Laggers Point is a well-known tourist attraction from the colonial days. To the southeast of it are a number of small protected beaches such as Horseshoe Bay and Little Bay in Arakoon National Park . Gap Beach and North Smoky are long beaches in the Hat Head National Park area north of the lighthouse.
The lighthouse is on the top of a cliff that drops steeply to the sea. The outbuildings are located under and behind the lighthouse to protect them from the weather. The lighthouse keeper's house and the two small houses of the lighthouse keeper's assistants were built on level platforms that were stabilized by high concrete retaining walls . The stables are well below the huts near the entrance to the site. A steep asphalt path leads from the parking lot to the lighthouse, which also serves as an entrance for the lighthouse keeper's houses, which are now rented to holiday guests.
Buildings and structures
The ensemble around the lighthouse includes:
- Lighthouse and attached engine room
- Signal house
- House of the lighthouse keeper
- Two adjoining houses for the lighthouse keeper's assistants
- Former stable building
- garage
- Small freestanding office / weather station
- Small flag room and several former fuel stores.
lighthouse
The lighthouse is octagonal with a large, single-story entrance pavilion. The tower is 17.4 meters high and consists of a Chance Bros. lantern and lens. A cast iron staircase leads to the gallery level.
The floors of the storage rooms are poured from concrete. The tower is divided internally into two floors with iron floors and staircases. The walls are 920 mm thick at the base and taper to 620 mm at the top and consist of in-situ concrete with locally mined granite as aggregate and were provided with cement plaster on the outside and inside. The gallery floor of the lantern consists of granite blocks that rest on molded granite consoles . The gallery is surrounded by an ornate metal railing made of gunmetal with the mark of Queen Victoria .
The tower walls have a series of openings, including a light opening below the balcony that contained an additional red sector fire to cover Fish Rock. The tower is entered through a closed passage, which also opens up the two storage rooms and is also made of concrete. A privacy screen made of in-situ concrete is built around the tower.
The rooms on the ground floor were originally used as storage and work space. In 1912 the original lighting was replaced by a kerosene burner with a mantle. In 1962, the light was switched to an electrical network operation with increased power. The structure has also undergone a number of other changes, for example the roofing of the pavilion was replaced by a zinc-aluminum alloy in 1990.
The lighthouse is maintained by the AMSA and was recently repainted. The original optics were retained, but the light source was replaced. Since the light also and mainly works at night, the populated areas in the southwest were shielded.
Lighthouse keeper's houses
The house for the lighthouse keeper designed in 1888 was also made of concrete with a plastered surface. The building was constructed with two bedrooms, a living room, an office room, dining room, kitchen and storage room. Most of the building is surrounded by verandas , each of which has a windbreak around the corners.
The accommodation of the auxiliary lighthouse keepers are two semi-detached houses, which originally contained four rooms as well as a kitchen and storage rooms. The buildings were constructed in the same way as the tower and the guard's house, i.e. made of in-situ concrete plastered outside and inside. The roofs were originally clad with galvanized sheet iron.
The northern house has the characteristic windbreak on the northwest corner, flanked by two open verandas on the north and west facade. A veranda on the east facade of the building was fenced in in the 1970s, but the kitchen and storage areas still enclose the courtyard area in the east of the building. A concrete retaining wall forms the eastern border of the inner courtyard. In the 1920s to 1940s, all ceilings were provided either with plastered wooden boards or later with fiber plaster.
The northern house now has three bedrooms. A door opening was made in the partition between the two houses to facilitate the use of the additional bedroom. The southern house has two bedrooms as well as a kitchen, bathroom and outside toilets.
In the 1970s, a parking lot and an asphalt access road were built.
Other structures and elements
Three cement-plastered water tanks remained underground, but the associated pumps were removed. A modern steel water tank was built in the inner courtyard of the northern auxiliary caretaker's house. The base of the flagpole in front of the lighthouse remained standing, but the mast itself was dismantled. The flag signals were an important part of the lighthouse operation and are partly documented in the AMSA brochure about the lighthouse.
Operation and tourism
The lighthouse is operated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and is classified as a monument by the National Trust of Australia (NSW). The closest lighthouses are South Solitary Island Lighthouse north of Coffs Harbor in the north, and Tacking Point Lighthouse at Port Macquarie in the south.
The lighthouse complex is located in Hat Head National Park . The head caretaker's house is now rented out as bed and breakfast by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, and the two auxiliary lighthouse keeper's houses are rented out as holiday homes . The cape is also a popular place for whale watching .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Smokey Cape Lighthouse Photo Gallery
- ^ Garry Searle: Smoky Cape ( English ) In: Lighthouses of New South Wales . SeaSide Lights. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
- ↑ a b c d Smoky Cape Lighthouse ( English ) In: New South Wales Lighthouses . Lighthouses of Australia Inc. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
- ↑ a b c Smoky Cape Lighthouse (Entry CHL105604) ( English ) In: Australia Heritage Places Inventory . Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities . Retrieved May 8, 2019.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Smoky Cape Lighthouse Group ( English ) In: New South Wales State Heritage Register . Office of Environment and Heritage. H01007. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
- ^ Climate Statistics for Australian Locations
- ^ A b Russ Rowlett: Lighthouses of Australia: New South Wales ( English ) In: The Lighthouse Directory . University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . Retrieved May 8, 2019.
- ^ Lighthouses of Australia. June 1998 Bulletin ( Memento of December 1, 1998 in the Internet Archive )
literature
- National Parks & Wildlife Service: National Parks & Wildlife Service Section 170 Register ( English ).
Web links
- Attraction Homepage: Smoky Cape Lighthouse Group ( English )