Cape Sorell Lighthouse
Erected in the year 1898-1899 by J & R Duff Contractors from Hobart.
History
Cape Sorell was named after the Lieutenant-Governor of Tasmania, 1817-1824, Colonel William Sorell. He was responsible for settling the area around Macquarie Harbour on the west coast of Tasmania where a penal settlement was established on Sarah Island in 1822. Communication with the remote area was extremely difficult and the convicts were removed to Port Arthur in 1833. Very little happened until a mining boom occurred in the late 1800s with the discovery of copper at Queenstown and silver, lead and tin near Zeehan. By 1899 Macquarie Harbour had become an important bustling port served by two private railway lines from Queenstown, one to Kelly Basin and the other to Strahan. There was also a third private line, the Emu Bay Railway, from nearby Zeehan to Burnie on the north coast of Tasmania, and this had a rail link from Zeehan to Strahan which was built by the Government.
The narrow, 120 metre wide, entrance to Macquarie Harbour from the west coast, given the name of Hells Gates by the convicts (Sarah Island being their hell), is extremely difficult to navigate and is obstructed by reefs and shoals and subject to fast running tides. In 1892 lights were established on Entrance and Bonnet islands at Hells Gates but these were of little use to shipping at sea off the west coast. The installation of a coastal light together with improvements to the harbour such as a breakwater at Hells Gates was seen as a priority. The result was the establishment of a light at Cape Sorell, just outside Macquarie Harbour, in 1899.
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Title | Address | Description |
---|---|---|
Blinking Billy | Blinking Billy Point Reserve, 652 Sandy Bay Rd, Sandy Bay TAS 7005, Australia | Blinking Billy |
John Garrow Shoal | Blinking Billy Point Reserve, 652 Sandy Bay Rd, Sandy Bay TAS 7005, Australia | John Garrow Shoal |
Derwent Lighthouse Iron Pot | Iron Pot, Tasmania, Australia | Derwent Lighthouse Iron Pot |
Tasman Island | Tasman Island, Tasmania, Australia | Tasman Island |
Cape Bruny | Cape Bruny Lighthouse Tours, Lighthouse Rd, South Bruny TAS 7150, Australia | Cape Bruny |
Maatsuyker Island | Unnamed Road, Tasmania, Australia | Maatsuyker Island |
Cape Sorell | Unnamed Road, Macquarie Heads TAS 7468, Australia | Cape Sorell |
Entrance Island | Unnamed Road, Macquarie Heads TAS 7468, Australia | Entrance Island |
Bonnet Island | Macquarie Harbour,, TAS, Australia | Bonnet Island |
Bluff Hill Point | Bluff Hill Rd, Marrawah TAS 7330, Australia | Bluff Hill Point |
West Point | Unnamed Road, Marrawah TAS 7330, Australia | West Point |
Sandy Cape | Unnamed Road, West Coast TAS 7321, Australia | Sandy Cape |
Stokes Point | Unnamed Road, Surprise Bay TAS 7256, Australia | Stokes Point |
Currie Harbour | LOT 1 Lighthouse St, Currie TAS 7256, Australia | Currie Harbour |
Cape Wickham | 687 Cape Wickham Rd, Wickham TAS 7256, Australia | Cape Wickham |
Councillor Island | Councillor Island, Tasmania, Australia | Councillor Island |
Highfield Point | Unnamed Road, Stanley TAS 7331, Australia | Highfield Point |
Highfield Point Old | Marine Park, 14 Wharf Rd, Stanley TAS 7331, Australia | Highfield Point Old |
Rocky Cape | Rocky Cape Rd, Rocky Cape TAS 7321, Australia | Rocky Cape |
Table Cape | Lighthouse Rd, Table Cape TAS 7325, Australia | Table Cape |
Round Hill Point | Chasm Creek Lighthouse, 1A Bass Hwy, Chasm Creek TAS 7321, Australia | Round Hill Point |
Mersey Bluff | 39 Bluff Access Rd, Devonport TAS 7310, Australia | Mersey Bluff |
Devonport Leading Lights | 6 Victoria Parade, Devonport TAS 7310, Australia | Devonport Leading Lights |
Devonport Leading Lights | 26 Best St, Devonport TAS 7310, Australia | Devonport Leading Lights |
Low Head | 496 Low Head Rd, Low Head TAS 7253, Australia | Low Head |
Middle Channel (Tamar Rear Leading Light) | 180 Low Head Rd, Low Head TAS 7253, Australia | Middle Channel (Tamar Rear Leading Light) |
Sheoak Point (Tamar Front Leading Light) | 199 Low Head Rd, Low Head TAS 7253, Australia | Sheoak Point (Tamar Front Leading Light) |
Swan Island | Unnamed Road, Tasmania, Australia | Swan Island |
Goose Island | Flinders, TAS, Australia | Goose Island |
Eddystone Point | Eddystone Light Station, 2986 Eddystone Point Rd, Eddystone TAS 7264, Australia | Eddystone Point |
Deal Island | Unnamed Road, Tasmania 7255, Australia | Deal Island |
Cape Tourville | Cape Tourville Rd, Coles Bay TAS 7215, Australia | Cape Tourville |
Cape Forestier (Lemon Rock) | Freycinet National Park, Coles Bay Rd, Coles Bay TAS 7215, Australia | Cape Forestier (Lemon Rock) |
Point Home | Unnamed Road, Triabunna TAS 7190, Australia | Point Home |
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The lighthouse, which is regarded as the most beautiful in Tasmania, was designed by Hobart architects Huckson and Hutchison and built with brick by Duff Brothers. The tower has to withstand the full force of the Roaring Forties but is slim and elegant. It is the second tallest in Tasmania, 30.5 metres high and another 6.6 metres high to the top of the vane. Originally, the lens was a second-order Chance Brothers with a kerosene burner producing an alternate white and red flash every 22.5 seconds. Each flash lasted 2.2 seconds and each eclipse 20.3 seconds. The white light with an intensity of 208 000 candlepower was visible for 20 miles and the red, with 83,000 candlepower, for 12 miles. In 1962 the light was changed to electric power and increased to 225 000 candlepower. The decline started when the light was automated. By 1970, the original second order Chance Brothers lens was replaced by a much smaller Wallace &Tiernan rotating beacon and the light was downgraded to only 14 600cd. In 1984 The Department of Transport installed a wind generator as a power source but four years later, it was replaced by solar panels. The light source was also changed and the light dimmed to a mere 13 300 cd. Today, the lantern is the ever popular Vega VRB 25 and the light shines with increased intensity of 35 059 cd.
Originally there were three keepers but their number was reduced to two in 1962 and withdrawn altogether in 1971.There were three brick houses of superior quality with six to seven rooms, regrettably the houses were demolished in 1971 following the withdrawal of the keepers.
Access to the station was and still is difficult and is only by sea. Between 1900 and 1946 there was a horse drawn wooden-rail tramway from Pilot Bay, just behind the breakwater, to the lighthouse.
The use of Macquarie Harbour for shipping ore from the west coast did not survive for very long. The narrow entrance through Hells Gates did not allow the passage of large ships and the railway access from Queenstown through rainforest and across wild rivers was expensive to maintain. By 1963 the last railway line from Queenstown was closed and ore was transported via the Emu Bay Railway to the deep-water port of Burnie on the north coast where it could be shipped overseas in modern ore carriers. Strahan returned to being a sleepy fishing port, before the tourist boom arrived, and the port at Kelly Basin and its township of Pillinger was abandoned. The Emu Bay railway is still in use but is no longer linked to Strahan. As a result of the decline of shipping from Macquarie Harbour the lighthouse at Cape Sorell lost its former importance and was downgraded to a Category 3 light.
Keepers
We need your help in compiling a list of keepers for this lighthouse. If you have any information then send it to keeper@lighthouses.org.au.
Please include this lighthouse’s name, the keepers full name and what years they were keepers. Also include the same information for any other lights they were on.
Technical Details
First Exhibited | 1899 |
Permanent Tower | 1899 |
CurrentTower | 1899 |
Architect | Designed by Hobart architects Huckson and Hutchison |
Status | Active |
Location | Lat: 42° 11.872 S Long: 145° 10.161 E |
Original Optic | Chance Bros 2nd order |
Current Optic | Vega VRB-25 in lantern room |
Automated | 1970 |
Demanned | 1971 |
Construction | White masonry tower and Chance Bros lantern |
Height | 37 m |
Elevation | 51 m |
Range | Nominal: 17nm Geographical: 19 nm |
Character | FL. W. (2) in 15 secs |
Intensity | 35,050 cd |
Light Source | 12V 35W C8 Halogen LP PR30s |
Power Source | Solar Conversion: 25/8/88 |
Operator | AMSA |
Custodian | AMSA |
Notes | As at January 2016 |
Access
The lighthouse grounds are open all year round. The tower is not open to the public. Site is difficult to visit. It is accessible by a walk of 8 km round trip from the south side of the harbor entrance, which can be reached by charter boat from Strahan.
Tours
No tours are available.
Accommodation
No lighthouse accommodation is available
Sources
Text by Alan Johnson
Resources: Guiding Lights by Kathleen Stanley and AMSA Archives