Babbage Island Lighthouse
The first Babbage Island lighthouse was a wooden tower 87 feet high from base to vane on a site 42 feet above sea level. It was a pyramidal tower similar in design to the Vasse lighthouse and second Gantheaume Point lighthouse. The fourth order Chance dioptric lens showed a light visible for 15 miles in good conditions. It was developed by the Northwest Branch of the Public Works Department, and the firm of WT Douglass, London, consulting engineer.
The light was first exhibited on 20 July 1897. The light showed a single flash every twenty seconds: a fifteen-second flash followed by an eclipse of five seconds. There was one white sector and two red sectors. Within two years the tower had been attacked by white ants and needed extensive repairs.
The lighthouse was a one-man station.
A fire in September 1908 caused significant damage to the lantern and apparatus. The lens sustained one small crack. The keeper, Robert Harkess, received burns to his face and arms when he tried to put the fire out. The occulting apparatus was damaged in the fire and from then on the lighthouse showed a fixed light.
The light was converted from paraffin (kerosene) oil to acetylene illumination in 1909.
A notice to mariners on 23 December 1920 stated that the fixed light at Babbage Island would become a flashing light (0.3 second flash and 2.7 second eclipse) in February the following year. The light was automated at that time and the keeper withdrawn.
In 1961 the WA government called for tenders for the supply and erection of a new galvanised tower and removal of the timber tower.
continued below …
Photo: Carnarvon Heritage Group
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| Title | Address | Description |
|---|---|---|
Cape Leeuwin | Leeuwin Rd, Augusta WA 6290, Australia | Go to Cape Leeuwin |
Breaksea Island | Unnamed Road, Nanarup WA 6330, Australia | Go to Breaksea Island |
Cave Point | Unnamed Road, Torndirrup WA 6330, Australia | Go to Cave Point |
Eclipse Island | The Gap Rd, Torndirrup WA 6330, Australia | Go to Eclipse Island |
Cape Naturaliste | Bunker Bay Walk Trail, Naturaliste WA 6281, Australia | Go to Cape Naturaliste |
Casuarina Point | 1 Bennett Way, Bunbury WA 6230, Australia | Go to Casuarina Point |
Arthur Head | 15 Captains Ln, Fremantle WA 6160, Australia | Go to Arthur Head |
South Mole | 1 Fleet St, Fremantle WA 6160, Australia | Go to South Mole |
North Mole | N Mole Dr, North Fremantle WA 6159, Australia | North Mole |
Woodman Point | 597 Cockburn Rd, Munster WA 6166, Australia | Go to Woodman Point |
Wadjemup (Rottnest) | Wadjemup Rd, Rottnest Island WA 6161, Australia | Go to Wadjemup (Rottnest) |
Bathurst Point | Lancier St, Rottnest Island WA 6161, Australia | Go to Bathurst Point |
Guilderton | 5 Tank Road, Guilderton WA 6041, Australia | Go to Guilderton |
Escape Island | Escape Island, Western Australia, Australia | Go to Escape Island |
Pelsaert Island | Houtman Abrolhos WA 6530, Australia | Go to Pelsaert Island |
Point Moore | 481-485 Marine Terrace, West End WA 6530, Australia | Go to Point Moore |
Bluff Point | 118A Kempton St, Bluff Point WA 6530, Australia | Go to Bluff Point |
Cape Inscription | Unnamed Road, Dirk Hartog Island WA 6537, Australia | Go to Cape Inscription |
Babbage Island | 13 Annear Pl, Babbage Island WA 6701, Australia | Go to Babbage Island |
Point Quobba | Unnamed Road, Macleod WA 6701, Australia | Go to Point Quobba |
Point Cloates | Cardabia-Ningaloo Rd, Ningaloo WA 6701, Australia | Go to Point Cloates |
Vlaming Head | Yardie Creek Rd, North West Cape WA 6707, Australia | Got to Vlaming Head |
Jarman Island | Reader Head Rd, Cossack WA 6720, Australia | Go to Jarman Island |
Gantheaume Point | Lurujarri Walk, Minyirr WA 6725, Australia | Go to Gantheaume Point |
Cape Bossut | Cape Bossut, Lagrange WA 6725, Australia | Go to Cape Bossut |
Cape Leveque | Broome-Cape Leveque Rd, Dampier Peninsula WA 6725, Australia | Go to Cape Leveque |
Caffarelli Island | Caffarelli Island, Western Australia, Australia | Go to Caffarelli Island |
continued from above …
The base of the lantern below the glazing was retained and reused on the replacement lighthouse.
The area around the lighthouse is now a museum run by the Carnarvon Heritage Group. It includes the original timber and iron lightkeepers cottage. The glazing and dome from the 1897 lantern were put on display in the grounds. According to a guide at the museum, the Fresnel lens was sent to Perth when the first lighthouse was decommissioned but its location is unknown.
In 2020 the galvanised tower was removed and the lighthouse downgraded to a major light. The light is exhibited from a pole close to where the lighthouses once stood.
In 2023 the two parts of the lantern were reunited. By mid-2024 volunteers from the Carnarvon Heritage Group had stripped and repainted the lantern and replaced the broken glazing. An electric light in the lantern exhibits a flash every three seconds for interpretation purposes.
Sources
- http://museum.wa.gov.au/maritime-archaeology-db/sites/default/files/no._100_lighthouses_on_wa_coast_0.pdf
- http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/Public/Inventory/Details/8e4dcf6d-7a99-4556-9e6a-cd17602a400d
- WA Government Gazettes and Department of Transport
- Brewis Report
- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-28/wa-tour-guide-shares-stories-of-carnarvon-lighthouse/102387848
Keepers
Frederick George Banmann Edwards: June 1879 to March 1908
Robert Hall Harkess: 1908 to 1 April 1909
Edward Parker: 1 August 1909 to 1921
Technical Details
| First Exhibited | 20 July 1897 |
| Second Tower | 11 October 1961 |
| Architect | |
| Status | Decommissioned |
| Location | Lat: 24 deg. 52 min. 21 sec. S. Long: 113 deg. 38 min. 08 sec. E. On the summit on the Western side of Babbage Island at the entrance to the Gascoyne River. |
| Original Optic | 4th order |
| Automated | 28 February 1921 |
| Demanned | February 1921 |
| Construction | 1st. Square wooden framework tower painted white 2nd. Steel framework tower |
| Height | 26.5 m |
| Elevation | Focal plane: 101 ft. 6 inches above high water. |
| Range | W. 15 nm R. 9 nm |
| Character | 1st. Occ. W.R. lt. 15 sec. 5 s 2nd. Fixed W.R., September 1909 3rd. Changed to 0.3 sec. flash, 2.7 sec eclipse, February 1921 |
| Intensity | |
| Light Source | |
| Power Source | |
| Operator | |
| Custodian | |
| Notes |
NB: Information is historical data and is not for navigational purposes.
Access
Access during One Mile Jetty Precinct opening hours.
Tours
The Carnarvon Heritage Group runs tours of the grounds and lightkeepers cottage museum.
Accommodation
No lighthouse accommodation is available
Museum
One Mile Jetty – Carnarvon
Links
Babbage Island lighthouse in Carnarvon – ABC 20 October 2015