Pencarrow Head Lighthouse is a decommissioned

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 ...

at Pencarrow Head in the

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

region of the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

of New Zealand.

Upper lighthouse

Pencarrow Lighthouse Wellington New Zealand-6536

Constructed in 1859, the Pencarrow Head Lighthouse was the first permanent lighthouse built in New Zealand. It was first lit on 1 January 1859. It was constructed from sections of

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

that were shipped from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Its first keeper, Mary Bennett, was the first and only female lighthouse keeper in New Zealand. The light was decommissioned in 1935 when it was replaced by the

Baring Head Lighthouse Baring Head Lighthouse is a concrete lighthouse at Baring Head in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, with an LED beacon powered by mains electricity. It is owned and operated by Maritime New Zealand, and can be accessed ...

. The lighthouse is registered as a Category I Historic Place. It was the first structure in the Wellington area that was covered by a heritage order shortly after the

New Zealand Historic Places Trust Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...

was established subsequent to the Historic Places Act 1954 having been passed. The Minister of Marine, Bill Fox, added a plaque at the lighthouse's centenary in 1959 to mark the occasion. The Marine Department transferred the land, which it had acquired from

Wellington Province Wellington Province, governed by the Wellington Provincial Council, was one of the provinces of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. It covered much of the southern half of the North Island until November 18 ...

in 1865, to the

Department of Lands and Survey The Department of Lands and Survey was a former government department in New Zealand that managed the administration of Crown land and its survey and mapping requirements. History Establishment The department was established in 1876 with the appo ...

in 1960. In 1966, the lighthouse itself was given to the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, which has managed the building since.

Pencarrow Sector Light

A new low-level lighthouse was commissioned in 1906 due to the problem of the high-level lighthouse being frequently obscured by fog and cloud. This lighthouse is still in use.

Access

The area has no road access; a reasonably flat walking or mountain biking track follows the coast line. The climb to the upper lighthouse is steep. A return journey takes about four hours on foot or one and a half hours by mountain bike.

References

External links

* *
Lighthouses of New Zealand
''Maritime New Zealand''
''New Zealand's first lighthouse turns 150'' on RNZ
4 January 2009. {{Authority control , additional=Q28910554 Lighthouses completed in 1859 Lighthouses in New Zealand Buildings and structures in Lower Hutt Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in the Wellington Region Cook Strait 1850s architecture in New Zealand Wellington Harbour Transport buildings and structures in the Wellington Region

Upper lighthouse

Pencarrow Sector Light

Access

See also

References

External links