Cape Bowling Green Light is an active

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

on Cape Bowling Green, a long

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, John ...

ending in a long low sandspit, about from

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire council area and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With a population ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The lighthouse is at the end of the headland, near the base of the sandspit. The first lighthouse at the location, established in 1874, was moved multiple times. It was prefabricated in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, shipped to the location, moved twice due to

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward ...

and finally transferred for display at the Australian National Maritime Museum at

Darling Harbour Darling Harbour is a harbour adjacent to the city centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia that is made up of a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central business district. Origin ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

History

Many ships wrecking at Cape Bowling Green necessitated the construction of a lighthouse at the cape. The first Cape Bowling Green Light was constructed in 1874, one of 22 lighthouses of a similar design constructed in Queensland around that time. It was a round conical tower, constructed of local

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

clad Cladding is an outer layer of material covering another. It may refer to the following: *Cladding (boiler), the layer of insulation and outer wrapping around a boiler shell *Cladding (construction), materials applied to the exterior of buildings ...

with galvanized iron plates imported from Britain. The lighthouse was prefabricated in Brisbane, then dismantled and shipped to the location to be erected again. The construction was done by the brothers John and Jacob Rooney of Maryborough, which also constructed

Sandy Cape Light Sandy Cape Light is a heritage-listed active lighthouse located on Sandy Cape, the most northern point on K'gari, Queensland, Australia. It stands about southwest of the northeastern tip of the island. It is the tallest lighthouse in Queensl ...

Cowan Cowan Point Light Cowan Cowan Point Light, was also known as Cowan Cowan Light or Cowan Point Light, was located on Cowan Cowan Point, on the western shore of Moreton Island, Queensland, Australia. History The first settlement at the point was a pilot station ...

, Cape Capricorn Light,

Lady Elliot Island Light Lady Elliot Island Light is an active lighthouse located on Lady Elliot Island, the southernmost 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 Booby Island Light. The original lens was a 3rd order Chance Brothers

dioptric Dioptrics is the branch of optics dealing with refraction, similarly the branch dealing with mirror A mirror or looking glass is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of ...

lens, and the light source was a

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...

wick lamp with an intensity of 13,000 cd, visible for . The apparatus was rotated with a

clockwork Clockwork refers to the inner workings of either mechanical devices called clocks and watches (where it is also called the movement) or other mechanisms that work similarly, using a series of gears driven by a spring or weight. A clockwork mec ...

mechanism and the station was operated by four lighthouse keepers, a chief and three assistants. In 1878 beach erosion threatened the lighthouse for the first time and it was moved for the first time. In 1908 the tower had to be relocated further away for the same reason. In 1913 an

incandescent gas mantle file:Glowing gas mantle.jpg, A Coleman Company, Coleman white gas lantern mantle glowing at full brightness An incandescent gas mantle, gas mantle or Welsbach mantle is a device for generating incandescent bright white light when heated by a flame ...

operated by vaporised kerosene was installed, raising the power to 64,000 cd. In 1920 a fixed automatic acetylene gas lamp ( carbide lamp) with a

sun valve A sun valve (''Swedish: solventil'', "solar valve") is a flow control valve that automatically shuts off gas flow during daylight. It earned its inventor Gustaf Dalén the 1912 Nobel Prize in Physics. Subsequently other variants of sun valve were d ...

was installed. As a result, the lighthouse was demanned and all other buildings were demolished. In 1985 a racon was installed. In 1987 the lighthouse was replaced by the current skeletal tower. With the sponsorship of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, the lighthouse was dismantled, and sections were lifted by a Department of Transport

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

to a site where they were numbered, crated, and shipped to Sydney. By 1994 the lighthouse was reassembled at the Australian National Maritime Museum where it is now on display. The lighthouse is still operational, using the original 3rd order lens and a typical 1913 clockwork mechanism, and it maintains its original

light characteristic A light characteristic is all of the properties that make a particular navigational light identifiable. Graphical and textual descriptions of navigational light sequences and colours are displayed on nautical charts and in Light Lists with the cha ...

, four white flashes every twenty seconds (Fl.(4)W. 20s).

Current structure and display

The current tower is a square steel skeletal tower. It is topped by a square lantern structure with a gallery. It is painted white with a red horizontal band at the top. The light characteristic shown is four white flashes every twenty seconds (Fl.(4)W. 20s), visible for .''List of Lights''

Site operation and visiting

The current lighthouse is operated by the AMSA. The visiting status is unclear. The original lighthouse is owned and operated by the Australian National Maritime Museum, and it is open for guided tours daily.

Notes

References

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External links