Wadjemup Lighthouse

Wadjemup Lighthouse
Map
LocationRottnest Island
Western Australia
Coordinates32°00′27″S 115°30′14″E / 32.00754°S 115.50399°E / -32.00754; 115.50399 (Wadjemup Lighthouse)
Tower
Constructed1896 Edit this on Wikidata
Constructionlimestone
Automated1986
Height38.7 metres (127 ft)
Shapetapered cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern
Markingswhite tower and lantern
OperatorAustralian Maritime Safety Authority
HeritageState Registered Place Edit this on Wikidata
Light
First lit1896
Focal height80.5 metres (264 ft)
Intensity1,300,000 cd
Range26 nautical miles (48 km; 30 mi)
CharacteristicFl W 7.5s.
Designated31 December 1993
Reference no.3254
Looking West towards Narrow Neck and Cape Vlamingh from the lighthouse viewing platform

Completed in 1849, the original 20-metre (66 ft) Wadjemup Lighthouse (also known as Rottnest Island Light Station) was Western Australia's first stone lighthouse[1][2] and was built to provide a safer sailing passage for ships to Fremantle Port and the Swan River Colony.

A second and larger replacement tower was built on the same site in 1896. It is the fourth oldest extant lighthouse in Western Australia and was Australia's first rotating beam lighthouse.[1][2] A shipwreck that was partly caused by poor communications and misunderstood signals from the lighthouse prompted the construction of Bathurst Lighthouse on the island in 1900.

  1. ^ a b "The Wadjemup Lighthouse on Rottnest Island". Lighthouses of Australia Inc. 12 June 2006. Archived from the original on 13 December 2010. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Rottnest Island Light Station (1896)" (PDF). Heritage Council of Western Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 September 2009. Retrieved 31 October 2010.