The Old Burnett Heads Light is an inactive

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 ...

which used to be located on the south side of the

Burnett River The Burnett River is a river located in the Wide Bay–Burnett and Central Queensland regions of Queensland, Australia. Course and features The Burnett River rises in the Burnett Range, part of the Great Dividing Range, close to Mount Gaeta a ...

entrance, in

Burnett Heads Burnett Heads is a coastal town and locality in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Burnett Heads had a population of 2,656 people. Geography The locality of Burnett Heads is on the southern side of the Burnett ...

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 ...

. It was relocated to the Burnett Heads Lighthouse Holiday Park. It is one of only two lighthouse surviving to be constructed of

timber frame Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

clad with weatherboards, the other being the original

Cleveland Point Light Cleveland Point Light, also known as Point Cleveland Light, is a lighthouse located on the north-eastern tip of Cleveland Point, at Cleveland, Queensland, Cleveland, Redland City, Queensland, Australia. It overlooks Moreton Bay to the east and ...

History

In the early 1870s Comboyuro Point Light and

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 ...

, two of the lighthouses on

Moreton Island Moreton Island (Mulgumpin) is an island on the eastern side of Moreton Bay on the coast of South East Queensland, Australia. The Coral Sea lies on the east coast of the island. Moreton Island lies northeast of the Queensland capital, Brisbane. ...

were upgraded. A higher tower with a better apparatus was constructed for Comboyuro Point and an improved apparatus was constructed for Cowan Cowan Point. The old apparatus from Comboyuro Point was installed at

. The apparatus from Cowan Cowan Point was installed at the old tower from Comboyuro Point, and the tower was installed at the entrance to Burnett River.. Note that says the tower itself was from Cowan Cowan Point. The date of this installation is given as either 1873 or 1874. Until 1932 it was occupied by a

lighthouse keeper A lighthouse keeper or lightkeeper is a 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. Lighthouse keepers were sometimes referred to as ...

. In 1932 the light was converted to

acetylene gas Acetylene (systematic name: ethyne) is the chemical compound with the formula and structure . It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is unstable in its pure ...

(

carbide lamp Carbide lamps, or acetylene gas lamps, are simple lamps that produce and burn acetylene (C2H2) which is created by the reaction of calcium carbide (CaC2) with water (H2O). Acetylene gas lamps were used to illuminate buildings, as lighthouse b ...

), automated and demanned. The lighthouse operated until 1971 when it was replaced by the

New Burnett Heads Light The New Burnett Heads Light, also known as South Head Light, is an active lighthouse standing on the south side of the Burnett River entrance, in Burnett Heads, Queensland, Australia. In 1971 it replaced the Old Burnett Heads Light, which was re ...

. It was then relocated about inland into Burnett River and restored. The concrete base and the steps of the lighthouse are still present next to the new tower. The original fifth-order

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) for use in lighthouses. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships." The design allows the c ...

is still mounted in the tower.

Site operation and visiting

The site and the lighthouse are managed by the

Bundaberg Regional Council The Bundaberg Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is centred on the city of Bundaberg, and also contains a significant rural area surroundi ...

. The Burnett Heads Lighthouse Holiday Park is open, but the tower is closed to the public.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * Lighthouses completed in 1873 Lighthouses in Queensland 1873 establishments in Australia Wide Bay–Burnett History of transport in Queensland Disused lighthouses in Australia {{Australia-lighthouse-stub

History

Site operation and visiting

See also

Notes

References