Port Melbourne Lead Lights
The Port Melbourne Lighthouses were built in 1924, and in conjunction guided ships by marking the centre of the Port Melbourne Channel from Port Phillip Bay.
History
The lighthouses have been preserved as part of a new housing estate that has transformed the old industrial port area, originally built to guide ships into.
The Port Melbourne Lighthouses were built in 1924, and in conjunction guided ships by marking the centre of the Port Melbourne Channel from Port Phillip Bay.
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| Title | Address | Description |
|---|---|---|
Melbourne Leading Light Rear | 66 Beacon Vista, Port Melbourne VIC 3207, Australia | Melbourne Leading Light Rear |
Melbourne Leading Light Front | Bay Trail, Port Melbourne VIC 3207, Australia | Melbourne Leading Light Front |
Williamstown Timeball | Timeball Tower, Williamstown VIC 3016, Australia | Williamstown Timeball |
Point Gellibrand Pile Light | 31 Battery Rd, Williamstown VIC 3016, Australia | Point Gellibrand Pile Light |
West Channel Pile Light | 75 Bluff Rd, St Leonards VIC 3223, Australia | West Channel Pile Light |
South Channel Pile Light | 2591 Point Nepean Rd, Rye VIC 3941, Australia | South Channel Pile Light |
Eastern (McCrae) | 658 Point Nepean Rd, McCrae VIC 3938, Australia | Eastern (McCrae) |
Cape Schanck | Cape Schanck Access Rd, Cape Schanck VIC 3939, Australia | Cape Schanck |
Shortland Bluff (Black) | 66 Gellibrand St, Queenscliff VIC 3225, Australia | Shortland Bluff (Black) |
Queenscliff (Low) White | 133 Hesse St, Queenscliff VIC 3225, Australia | Queenscliff (Low) White |
Port Phillip Lights | 133 Hesse St, Queenscliff VIC 3225, Australia | Port Phillip Lights |
Point Lonsdale | 9-13 Point Lonsdale Rd, Point Lonsdale VIC 3225, Australia | Point Lonsdale |
© All images are copyright of their respective photographers and are not to be used without permission.
Access
Both lights are accessible via a park at the rear of the new housing estate. The road that ran along side it has been filled over and converted to parkland. They are also accessible via the shorefront walkway from Port Melbourne.
Tours
No tours are available.
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.
Rear Light
The Port Melbourne Rear Light is a 26 metre concrete tower, 500 metres north of the Front Light.
Its main light is red, occulting every six seconds, and three metres below it is a 24 hour a day directional light, with green, white and red sectors, each showing over only a fraction of a degree, to mark the precise centre of the channel, in a particularly narrow arc of 1.5º.
Originally surrounded by the large BP fuel distribution installation which was cleared in the early 1990s, the light is now the focal point of the Beacon Cove Project, a bayside housing development.
The Rear Light is still operating and has become a feature of the new residential street Beacon Vista to the port, aligned with the Rear and Front Lights.
Front Light
The Port Melbourne Front Light, just offshore between Princes Pier and Station Pier, is a round and tapered wooden-framed light built on piles. It used to be linked to the shore by a narrow wooden footbridge, which fell into disrepair and was removed.
The tower used to show a fixed green light over a 26 degree sector, whilst a second green light occulted every six seconds in the four degree sector marking the centre of the Port Melbourne Channel. The light has not been exhibited for many years.
Technical Details
| First Exhibited | |
| Permanent Tower | |
| CurrentTower | |
| Architect | |
| Status | |
| Location | |
| Original Optic | |
| Current Optic | |
| Automated | |
| Demanned | |
| Construction | |
| Height | |
| Elevation | |
| Range | |
| Character | |
| Intensity | |
| Light Source | |
| Power Source | |
| Operator | |
| Custodian | |
| Notes |
NB: Information is historical data and is not for navigational purposes.
Technical Details
| First Exhibited | |
| Permanent Tower | |
| CurrentTower | |
| Architect | |
| Status | |
| Location | |
| Original Optic | |
| Current Optic | |
| Automated | |
| Demanned | |
| Construction | |
| Height | |
| Elevation | |
| Range | |
| Character | |
| Intensity | |
| Light Source | |
| Power Source | |
| Operator | |
| Custodian | |
| Notes |
NB: Information is historical data and is not for navigational purposes.