Baring Head Lighthouse is a Lighthouse

Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

 at Baring Head

Baring Head

Baring Head lies between Wellington Harbour and Palliser Bay at the southern end of the North Island of New Zealand. The Baring Head Lighthouse, constructed in 1935, is located on the headland....

 in the Wellington Region

Wellington

Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...

 of the North Island

North Island

The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...

 of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. It is owned and operated by Maritime New Zealand

Maritime New Zealand

Maritime New Zealand is a Crown entity responsible for protecting the maritime environment within New Zealand and maintaining safety and security....

.

Its purpose was to be the main light for the Cook Strait

Cook Strait

Cook Strait is the strait between the North and South Islands of New Zealand. It connects the Tasman Sea on the west with the South Pacific Ocean on the east....

 and Wellington Harbour

Wellington Harbour

Wellington Harbour is the large natural harbour at the southern tip of New Zealand's North Island. New Zealand's capital, Wellington, is on the western side of Wellington Harbour. The harbour was officially named Port Nicholson until it assumed its current name in the 1980s.In Māori the harbour is...

 and replaced the light at Pencarrow Head

Pencarrow Head Lighthouse

Pencarrow Head Lighthouse is a decommissioned Lighthouse at Pencarrow Head in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand.It was the first permanent lighthouse built in New Zealand and was constructed from sections of cast iron that were shipped from England...

which was decommissioned in 1935. The lighthouse was initially powered by a diesel generator but was converted to mains electricity in 1950. The light was fully automated in 1989.