Point Lonsdale Lighthouse Precinct

The following is the Heritage Victoria statement of significance:

What is significant?

The Point Lonsdale Lighthouse precinct consists of the lighthouse and associated buildings [both extant and ruins], and defence structures associated with the First and Second World Wars. The area was first used in the mid-nineteenth century for the construction of navigational structures to guide vessels through the Heads of Port Philip Bay.

European discovery of the entrance to Port Phillip Bay occurred in 1802 when Acting Lt John Murray in command of the Lady Nelson sighted the promontories now known as Point Lonsdale and Point Nepean. With the later exploration of Port Phillip Bay and the consequent development of the towns of Geelong and Melbourne, safe navigation through the dangerous Port Phillip Heads was of critical importance. The promontory at Point Lonsdale provided an obvious location for the placement of navigational guidance structures. Although a flagstaff had been manned from 1852 and a warning light shown, the first lighthouse was not erected until 1863 when the former timber leading light at Shortlands Bluff which had been constructed in 1853-54 was relocated to Point Lonsdale. Lighthouse keepers' quarters [since demolished] were also constructed in the 1860s and in 1884, a weatherboard foghorn shed was constructed at the site. In 1891 a building for the storage of explosives held to blast a navigation channel near the jetty constructed was erected in the place of a former powder magazine. The store was later used as a rocket shed. The jetty was erected c.1890 to house a lifeboat in accordance with the recommendation of the Commissioner of Customs following the wreck of the barque Glaneuse in 1886.

The Point Lonsdale Lighthouse constructed in 1901-02 is the last remaining of the three successive light structures erected at Point Lonsdale. The lighthouse was designed by the Public Works Department and the reinforced concrete structure was erected by the contractors Coates Brothers. The lighthouse was first lit on 20 March1902. In 1951 an octagonal structure housing the signal station and observation room was built around the base of the lighthouse.

The principal light station related structures remaining at the point are the lighthouse [1901-02], fog horn shed [1884], the rocket shed, which contains two rare vertical boilers [1891], the jetty [c1890], the scend shed [1941], the signal mast [1951], and the remains of the lighthouse keepers quarters [1860s].

The Point Lonsdale lighthouse is of a traditional design consisting of a shaft and capital and closely follows the form of many late nineteenth century Victorian lighthouses. The structure is mass concrete tower similar in construction to the earlier Point Hicks lighthouse. The structure is surmounted by a Chance Brothers lantern. The original oil lamp of the light was replaced first with an acetylene light and later an electric light. Half way up the shaft is a cantilevered platform supporting red and green navigation lights which replaced a subsidiary light original to the 1901-02 structure.

While Point Lonsdale had always been of strategic defence interest, it was the outbreak of the First Word War which prompted the construction of defence structures in the vicinity of the lighthouse. Two search light emplacements, an electric light directing station and engine house were constructed in 1914. Further defence structures were erected in response to the commencement of the Second Word War. A new concrete emplacement, now the scend shed, was constructed in 1941 and two gun emplacements and a fire directing emplacement were added in 1942. At about the same time, the Point Lonsdale defence camp was erected. The camp, consisting principally of P1-type huts, initially accommodated the 7 Australian CRE [Works] and with a small area set aside on the east side of the Point Lonsdale Road for the Australian Women's Army Service [AWAS]. At the height of the war, there were fifteen camp buildings at Point Lonsdale. In 1946, the service personnel social and benevolent organization Toc H applied to use the camp buildings as holiday accommodation for children of former members of the services. Toc H later purchased the buildings and continues to lease the land from the Victorian Government.

How is it significant?

The Point Lonsdale Lighthouse precinct is of architectural, historical and archaeological significance to the State of Victoria.

Why is it significant?

The Point Lonsdale Lighthouse precinct is of historical significance for its association with the maritime and defence history of Victoria. The lighthouse structures in the precinct demonstrate the importance of a system of navigational aids in a time when shipping was of singular significance in maintaining commercial links between Melbourne and Geelong and Britain and Australian colonial ports. The Point Lonsdale lighthouse was of critical importance as the first guiding light to the entrance of Port Phillip Bay visible from sea. The defence group is of historical significance for the range of fixed defence structures within the site, reflecting the importance of the defence of Port Phillip Bay and the major cities of Melbourne and Geelong during the duration of both the First and Second World Wars. The P1-type huts are of interest for their association with the 7 Australian CRE [Works] division, the Australian Women's Army Service [AWAS], and the Toc H organization.

The Point Lonsdale Lighthouse group of buildings is of architectural significance for its lighthouse which is a typical and aesthetically pleasing example of an early 20th century lighthouse design, and the ancillary structures and fittings. The fog horn shed is the only known fog horn shed at a Victorian lighthouse and the two vertical boilers which provided the power for the steam operated fog-horns are rare in their original setting. While there are rocket sheds at three other Victorian light stations the rocket shed at Point Lonsdale is the only one located in close proximity to a lighthouse.

The Point Lonsdale Lighthouse precinct is of archaeological significance for its potential to reveal significant artefactual remains pertaining to the use of the place as a lightstation and signal station. Sites in the vicinity of the demolished keeper's buildings have a high archaeological potential.

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

Cave