Bustard Head Light
Encyclopedia
Bustard Head Light is an active lighthouse
located on the southeast tip of Bustard Head, a headland
, about 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) northwest of 1770
, Queensland
, Australia
, within the Eurimbula National Park
. Built in 1868, it is the second oldest lightstation in Queensland, following Cape Moreton Light
, and the first to be built in Queensland after its formation in 1859. It is also one of the first in Australia to be constructed using bolted prefabricated
segments of cast iron
, and one of only two such lighthouses in Queensland, the other being its sibling, Sandy Cape Light
. It serves as the central relay for Dent Island Light
, Pine Islet Light
and Lady Elliot Island Light
and as the radio check post for Cape Capricorn Light
, Sandy Cape Light
and Double Island Point Light
.
Bustard Head was named by Captain James Cook in 1770, in honour of a bustard
which was shot and eaten by the landing party at the location.
was formed in 1859. In 1862, the Queensland government appointed the first Portmaster, Commander George Poynter Heath. However, it was only in 1864 that two committees were appointed to deal with the issue of coastal lighthouses. One of the locations believed by these committees to require a lighthouse was Bustard Head. In practice, Bustard head became the first to be constructed by the new government. Orders for the tower and the lantern were placed in 1865, with Hennet, Spinks and Company of Bridgwater, England
and Chance Brothers
of Birmingham, England, respectively. Both orders shipped to Brisbane
in April 1867, and a construction tender was awarded to W. P. Clark in August 1867, for erecting the lighthouse and building the other buildings required for the station. Though the contract stated six months of construction, actual work took ten months, and the light was first lit on 29 June 1868. W. P. Clark was to later construct Double Island Point Light
(1884), Pine Islet Light
(1885), Low Isles Light
(1877) and to start the construction of Cape Cleveland Light
and Dent Island Light
(1878).
In May 1932 the original cottages were destroyed in fire. In 1935 the stairs which were originally outside the tower were relocated within the tower. The lighthouse was automated during 1985-1986, and finally demanned in 1986, leaving it to neglect and vandalism for the next 16 years. In 2001 the Bustard Head Lighthouse Association, a volunteer organization led by Stuart Buchanan, obtained a twenty year lease on the premises and started restoring it using funds from a federal grant, local businesses and self funding. The station was fully restored, and it is now managed by the association.
120 Volt
tungsten-halogen lamp, with an intensity of 200,000 cd
. The light is fed from Mains electricity
, with a standby diesel alternator. The current optical apparatus is an AGA
250mm rotating lens.
ed iron gallery, with a simple iron balustrade. Inside the tower is a spiral iron staircase with cast iron steps, adjoined to the internal walls. Entrance to the lighthouse was originally via an external flight of stairs and a small landing leading to a door on the second floor. In 1935 and entrance was provided on the ground floor and the stairs were relocated within the tower. On top of the gallery is the original 9 in 6 in (2.9 m) diameter Chance Bros lantern. In the lantern room is a catwalk, supported by ornate iron brackets. The dome of the lantern is copper clad and painted red, and itself topped with a spherical knob and a weather vane
. The lighthouse is fenced.
The residences at the station consist of two one-story lighthouse keeper
's houses. They are timber framed
, clad with fibro
and with corrugated fibro roofs, with stainless steel gutters. One of them is occupied by a site manager and the other serves as a display with lighthouse artefacts.
Another notable structure at the station is an old powerhouse, timber framed and clad with cement sheet and a gabled corrugated fibro cement roof with stainless steel gutters. The new powerhouse is brick constructed on a concrete foundation.
Other structures includes a fenced fuel store, a tool shed, a garage/stores shed, and a bulk fuel farm. They are mostly timber framed and clad with fibro.
Also on the premises is a cemetery surrounded by a white picket fence, located about 300 metres (984.3 ft) northeast of the station. It contains nine graves dating from 1879 to 1911 as well as two unmarked, child sized graves.
. The site is managed by the Bustard Head Lighthouse Association. The site is accessible by 4WD vehicles only. The site and tower are open to tours which are available daily.
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....
located on the southeast tip of Bustard Head, a headland
Headland
A headland is a point of land, usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends out into a body of water.Headland can also refer to:*Headlands and bays*headLand, an Australian television series...
, about 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) northwest of 1770
1770, Queensland
1770 is a village in Queensland, Australia, built on the site of the second landing by James Cook and the crew of HM Bark Endeavour in May 1770 . Originally known as Round Hill — after the creek it sits on — the name was changed in 1970 to commemorate the bicentennial of Cook's visit...
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, within the Eurimbula National Park
Eurimbula National Park
Eurimbula is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 411 km north of Brisbane. The nearest town is Agnes Water.Eurimbula consists of three separate sections. The main section is centred around Eurimbula Creek and is accessible from the main Agnes Water road. There are camping facilities at...
. Built in 1868, it is the second oldest lightstation in Queensland, following Cape Moreton Light
Cape Moreton Light
Cape Moreton Light, also listed as North Point Range Rear Light, is an active lighthouse located on Cape Moreton, a rocky headland located at the north eastern tip of Moreton Island, a large sand island on the eastern side of Moreton Bay, on the coast of South East Queensland, Australia...
, and the first to be built in Queensland after its formation in 1859. It is also one of the first in Australia to be constructed using bolted prefabricated
Prefabrication
Prefabrication is the practice of assembling components of a structure in a factory or other manufacturing site, and transporting complete assemblies or sub-assemblies to the construction site where the structure is to be located...
segments of cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
, and one of only two such lighthouses in Queensland, the other being its sibling, Sandy Cape Light
Sandy Cape Light
Sandy Cape Light is an active lighthouse located on Sandy Cape, the most northern point on Fraser Island, Queensland, Australia. It stands about southwest of the northeastern tip of the island. It is the tallest lighthouse in Queensland. Built in 1870, it is the second major lighthouse to be built...
. It serves as the central relay for Dent Island Light
Dent Island Light
Dent Island Light is an active lighthouse located on Dent Island, a small island off the coast of Queensland, Australia. Dent Island is part of the Whitsunday Group of the Whitsunday Islands...
, Pine Islet Light
Pine Islet Light
Pine Islet Light, also known as Percy Isles Light, is an active lighthouse located at Pine Islet, a small islet belonging to the Percy Isles group of the Northumberland Islands, about southeast of Mackay, Queensland, Australia...
and Lady Elliot Island Light
Lady Elliot Island Light
Lady Elliot Island Light is an active lighthouse located on Lady Elliot Island, the southern-most coral cay of the Great Barrier Reef, north-east of Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia. The lighthouse is located on the western side of the island...
and as the radio check post for Cape Capricorn Light
Cape Capricorn Light
Cape Capricorn Light is an active lighthouse located on Cape Capricorn, a coastal headland on the northeast point of Curtis Island, in Central Queensland, Australia...
, Sandy Cape Light
Sandy Cape Light
Sandy Cape Light is an active lighthouse located on Sandy Cape, the most northern point on Fraser Island, Queensland, Australia. It stands about southwest of the northeastern tip of the island. It is the tallest lighthouse in Queensland. Built in 1870, it is the second major lighthouse to be built...
and Double Island Point Light
Double Island Point Light
Double Island Point Light is an active lighthouse located at the summit of Double Island Point, a coastal headland within the Cooloola section of the Great Sandy National Park. It is located at the southern end of Wide Bay, north of Noosa Heads, Queensland, Australia.Though the location was...
.
Bustard Head was named by Captain James Cook in 1770, in honour of a bustard
Bustard
Bustards, including floricans and korhaans, are large terrestrial birds mainly associated with dry open country and steppes in the Old World...
which was shot and eaten by the landing party at the location.
History
The Government of QueenslandGovernment of Queensland
The Government of Queensland is commonly known as the "Queensland Government".The form of the Government of Queensland is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1859, although it has been amended many times since then...
was formed in 1859. In 1862, the Queensland government appointed the first Portmaster, Commander George Poynter Heath. However, it was only in 1864 that two committees were appointed to deal with the issue of coastal lighthouses. One of the locations believed by these committees to require a lighthouse was Bustard Head. In practice, Bustard head became the first to be constructed by the new government. Orders for the tower and the lantern were placed in 1865, with Hennet, Spinks and Company of Bridgwater, England
Bridgwater
Bridgwater is a market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is the administrative centre of the Sedgemoor district, and a major industrial centre. Bridgwater is located on the major communication routes through South West England...
and Chance Brothers
Chance Brothers
Chance Brothers and Company was a glassworks originally based in Spon Lane, Smethwick, West Midlands , in England. It was a leading glass manufacturer and a pioneer of British glassmaking technology....
of Birmingham, England, respectively. Both orders shipped to Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
in April 1867, and a construction tender was awarded to W. P. Clark in August 1867, for erecting the lighthouse and building the other buildings required for the station. Though the contract stated six months of construction, actual work took ten months, and the light was first lit on 29 June 1868. W. P. Clark was to later construct Double Island Point Light
Double Island Point Light
Double Island Point Light is an active lighthouse located at the summit of Double Island Point, a coastal headland within the Cooloola section of the Great Sandy National Park. It is located at the southern end of Wide Bay, north of Noosa Heads, Queensland, Australia.Though the location was...
(1884), Pine Islet Light
Pine Islet Light
Pine Islet Light, also known as Percy Isles Light, is an active lighthouse located at Pine Islet, a small islet belonging to the Percy Isles group of the Northumberland Islands, about southeast of Mackay, Queensland, Australia...
(1885), Low Isles Light
Low Isles Light
Low Isles Light, also known as Low Islets Light or Low Island Light, is an active lighthouse located on Low Island, a coral cay which together with Woody Island forms the Low Isles group, about northeast of Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia...
(1877) and to start the construction of Cape Cleveland Light
Cape Cleveland Light
Cape Cleveland Light is an active lighthouse located on the northern tip of Cape Cleveland, a promontory projecting into the Coral Sea west of Cleveland Bay and about east of Townsville, Queensland, Australia...
and Dent Island Light
Dent Island Light
Dent Island Light is an active lighthouse located on Dent Island, a small island off the coast of Queensland, Australia. Dent Island is part of the Whitsunday Group of the Whitsunday Islands...
(1878).
In May 1932 the original cottages were destroyed in fire. In 1935 the stairs which were originally outside the tower were relocated within the tower. The lighthouse was automated during 1985-1986, and finally demanned in 1986, leaving it to neglect and vandalism for the next 16 years. In 2001 the Bustard Head Lighthouse Association, a volunteer organization led by Stuart Buchanan, obtained a twenty year lease on the premises and started restoring it using funds from a federal grant, local businesses and self funding. The station was fully restored, and it is now managed by the association.
Current display
The current light characteristic is two white flashes, separated by three seconds, every ten seconds (Fl.(2)W. 10s), visible for 21 nautical miles (38.9 km). The light source is a 1000 WattWatt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
120 Volt
Volt
The volt is the SI derived unit for electric potential, electric potential difference, and electromotive force. The volt is named in honor of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta , who invented the voltaic pile, possibly the first chemical battery.- Definition :A single volt is defined as the...
tungsten-halogen lamp, with an intensity of 200,000 cd
Candela
The candela is the SI base unit of luminous intensity; that is, power emitted by a light source in a particular direction, weighted by the luminosity function . A common candle emits light with a luminous intensity of roughly one candela...
. The light is fed from Mains electricity
Mains electricity
Mains is the general-purpose alternating current electric power supply. In the US, electric power is referred to by several names including household power, household electricity, powerline, domestic power, wall power, line power, AC power, city power, street power, and grid power...
, with a standby diesel alternator. The current optical apparatus is an AGA
AGA AB
AGA AB, previously AB Gasaccumulator and AB Svenska Gasaccumulator, was a Swedish industrial gas company founded in 1904. Nobel Prize laureate Gustaf Dalén was instrumental in the success of the company. Important inventions included the AGA cooker and the Dalén light. In the 1990's AGA conceived...
250mm rotating lens.
Structures
The lighthouse is conical in form. It stands 18 metres (59.1 ft) high, constructed of prefabricated cast iron plates, and painted white, with splayed flanges at the base, much like the Sandy Cape Light. The tower is topped by a cantileverCantilever
A cantilever is a beam anchored at only one end. The beam carries the load to the support where it is resisted by moment and shear stress. Cantilever construction allows for overhanging structures without external bracing. Cantilevers can also be constructed with trusses or slabs.This is in...
ed iron gallery, with a simple iron balustrade. Inside the tower is a spiral iron staircase with cast iron steps, adjoined to the internal walls. Entrance to the lighthouse was originally via an external flight of stairs and a small landing leading to a door on the second floor. In 1935 and entrance was provided on the ground floor and the stairs were relocated within the tower. On top of the gallery is the original 9 in 6 in (2.9 m) diameter Chance Bros lantern. In the lantern room is a catwalk, supported by ornate iron brackets. The dome of the lantern is copper clad and painted red, and itself topped with a spherical knob and a weather vane
Weather vane
A weather vane is an instrument for showing the direction of the wind. They are typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building....
. The lighthouse is fenced.
The residences at the station consist of two one-story lighthouse keeper
Lighthouse keeper
A lighthouse keeper is the person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Keepers were needed to trim the wicks, replenish fuel, wind clockworks and perform maintenance tasks such as cleaning...
's houses. They are timber framed
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
, clad with fibro
Fibro
Fibro, the shortened form of "Fibrous Cement" - or "Fibrous Asbestos Cement", FAC, is a building material made of compressed fibres cemented into rigid sheets....
and with corrugated fibro roofs, with stainless steel gutters. One of them is occupied by a site manager and the other serves as a display with lighthouse artefacts.
Another notable structure at the station is an old powerhouse, timber framed and clad with cement sheet and a gabled corrugated fibro cement roof with stainless steel gutters. The new powerhouse is brick constructed on a concrete foundation.
Other structures includes a fenced fuel store, a tool shed, a garage/stores shed, and a bulk fuel farm. They are mostly timber framed and clad with fibro.
Also on the premises is a cemetery surrounded by a white picket fence, located about 300 metres (984.3 ft) northeast of the station. It contains nine graves dating from 1879 to 1911 as well as two unmarked, child sized graves.
Site operation and visiting
The light is operated by the Australian Maritime Safety AuthorityAustralian Maritime Safety Authority
Australian Maritime Safety Authority is responsible, on behalf of the Commonwealth Government of Australia, for the regulation and safety oversight of Australia's shipping fleet and management of Australia's international maritime obligations...
. The site is managed by the Bustard Head Lighthouse Association. The site is accessible by 4WD vehicles only. The site and tower are open to tours which are available daily.