Location | Rottnest Island Western Australia |
---|---|
Coordinates | 32°00′27″S 115°30′14″E / 32.00754°S 115.50399°E |
Tower | |
Constructed | 1896 |
Construction | limestone |
Automated | 1986 |
Height | 38.7 metres (127 ft) |
Shape | tapered cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern |
Markings | white tower and lantern |
Operator | Australian Maritime Safety Authority |
Heritage | State Registered Place |
Light | |
First lit | 1896 |
Focal height | 80.5 metres (264 ft) |
Intensity | 1,300,000 cd |
Range | 26 nautical miles (48 km; 30 mi) |
Characteristic | Fl W 7.5s. |
Designated | 31 December 1993 |
Reference no. | 3254 |
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.