Cape St George Lighthouse
The National Navy used this lighthouse for target practice up until 1922.
History
For detailed historical data on the Lighthouse visit the website here: https://lighthouses.org.au/nsw/cape-st-george-lighthouse/Beneath the Ruins:
The lighthouse might be in ruins above the ground but there is an extensive series of tunnels and rooms beneath the ground. The lighthouse was used for a series of purposes during the first world war, first as a high point for a Radio Tower, then as a target for artillery practice, the Navy using the shelling to help hide its more clandestine purposes and keep the civilians and others away from the area. After WWI it was repurposed again and then left abandoned until it was reopened during WWII. There is no evidence that can be seen from the surface but there are several entrances along the cliffside and at least one entrance under the low water line.Purpose / Function
The Lighthouse was built to keep the wooden sailing ships of the early colonial fleets off of the sharp rocks on the very edge of the deep drop off into the Pacific ocean. The shoals collected over 50 ships in the early years of the colony and can still be treacherous today even with the more accurate maps of the bay. The sharp drop off into the deeps has meant that any number of wrecks are still unmarked and from time to time artifacts float to the surface and can be found either floating on the waters of the bay or beached on its sands.
History
Recommended in 1856, controversy surrounded this light before construction had even began and completed in 1860. Decisions on the need for a light and its location were made without even consulting the Pilots Board, the controlling authority, about the efficiency of a light at that location.
The problem was that the light was not visible from the Northern approach to Jerbal Bay, and would barely be visible from the southern approach. Furthermore, the original map and marking of the proposed lighthouse location were so inaccurate that later there were doubts as whether the light had been erected on the selected sight. On top of this inaccuracy the contractor seems to have built the light closer to the quarry he was obtaining the stone from! In fact when inspected by members of the Pilots board it was found to be two and a half miles north of the intended site.
A Select Committee was established by the State Government to investigate the errors in locating the lighthouse.
From 1864 to 1893 there were twenty three ships wrecked in the vicinity of Jerbal Bay.
One prominent wreck still haunts the memories of the area the S.S. Dandenong
RUINED STRUCTURE
1922
1922
Alternative Names
The Ruins
Type
Lighthouse
Parent Location
Owning Organization
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