Macquarie Lighthouse c.1883 : 無料・フリー素材/写真
Macquarie Lighthouse c.1883 / Sydney Heritage
| ライセンス | クリエイティブ・コモンズ 表示 2.1 |
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| 説明 | See where this picture was taken. [?]As early as 1788, South Head was being used as a look-out point for boats entering and leaving the harbour. Prior to 1816 South Head was the site for a manned flagstaff, a fire beacon, a navigation column and a signal station.In 1790, Captain Arthur Phillip directed a party of seamen from the Sirius to erect a flagstaff 'on a high bluff...at the entrance to the harbour...' in order to communicate the arrival of ships into the harbour back to the colony at Sydney Cove. The first signal from here was displayed in February of that year. It is believed that the present Signal Station is the site of the 1790 flagstaff.Later that year, Phillip also commanded that a column be erected near the flagstaff. It should be '... of a height sufficient to be seen from some distance at sea, and the stonemasons were sent down to quarry stone upon the spot for the building...' The column was erected on a raised base measuring 16 foot square and had its own base of 4 foot square. The signalling activities at South Head were now two-fold, communicating news about the arrival of ships to the colony at Sydney Cove via semaphore, and informing ships of the location of the entrance to Port Jackson. By the end of 1790 the site was known as the 'Look-out Post' and there were huts and vegetable gardens adjacent to the flagstaff for the eleven men stationed there.The column was destroyed in September 1792 by a major storm. It was reportedly re-erected using bricks from Bennelong's disused hut on Bennelong Point as there were not enough bricks available from the kilns in the Brickfields.During this period, access to the site was via a walking track which was approximately in the same location as the present Old South Head Road. In 1803 surgeon John Harris offered to construct a road 15 feet wide for 100 pounds. By 1811 the eight miles of road and 11 bridges of Old South Head Road was completed. It terminated at the Signal Station with a walking track leading down to Watsons Bay.Following the end of the Napoleonic war in 1815, many more convicts were sent to New South Wales, with over 1000 arriving in 1818. The impending arrival of ships transporting convicts and an increase in the volume of shipping led to the commencement of a series of building projects in Sydney.Governor Macquarie gave instructions that a lighthouse, the first in Australia, be constructed at the entrance to Port Jackson on South Head. Francis Greenway was appointed as architect and Captain John Gill as supervisor. Numerous people criticised the appropriateness of the site because of its distance 2 miles from the actual opening into the harbour. Greenway suggested North Head as an appropriate location, but this was dismissed by Governor Macquarie as being too remote. The foundation stone was laid on the 11th July 1816.The lighthouse sat in an area compounded by four stone retaining walls with originally two corner lodges intended for the 'keepers of the Signals'. The construction of the tower was probably one of the most difficult constructions undertaken in the colony to date. The colony had a shortage of quality building materials and skilled labour which despite the skills of Greenway and Gill, proved to make the construction very difficult. In addition, Greenway and Gill often disagreed on best methods of construction leading to design and engineering compromises.The lighthouse tower was essentially completed by December 1817 when Macquarie wrote to Lord Bathurst, the British Secretary of State to inform him of the 'Very Elegant and Strong Stone Tower and Light House' erected at South Head. At this time the lantern was yet to be completed as they were waiting for the arrival of the plate glass from England. Bathurst responded favourably to Macquarie despite the fact that work on the lighthouse had commenced without obtaining official approval from Britain On the 16th December 1817, the Governor and Mrs Macquarie and a party of their friends went to inspect the tower. On the same day, before breakfast, Francis Greenway received his emancipation papers at the Lighthouse.The lighthouse was operational permanently from 1818 and was under the supervision of the former quartermaster for the first Fleet and retired harbourmaster, Robert Watson.Shortcomings in the construction of the tower became evident early on. By 1822 it was deemed necessary to carry out emergency structural repairs as some stones had fallen from the arches during that year. This work included the reconstruction of the supporting arches, the repointing of stones, and the introduction of a large iron hoop to support the base of the tower. Further repairs were undertaken in 1830 and a verandah was added on the western face of the building. In 1836 new quarters were built in the south-west corner of the site for the Head Keeper. In 1866 further structural repairs were required to the lighthouse including the addition of more iron straps around the tower.The tower was now distinctly dilapidated and in 1873 it was agreed that the light cast by the Macquarie Tower was not sufficiently strong for its important location, and that new, more powerful lighting technology should be used. However, the lantern on the Macquarie Tower was too small to accommodate the new apparatus.In 1857 the Dunbar was wrecked on South Head, and the Catherine Adams on North Head. These tragedies highlighted the need to more clearly define the entry to the harbour. The wreck of the Dunbar in particular showed the deficiencies of the Macquarie Light, as it appeared that the Gap may have been mistaken for the harbour entry. As a consequence the Hornby light was constructed at the extreme northerly end of South Head in 1858. In 1878, approval was given to replace the Greenway-built tower with a new tower.James Barnet was the architect responsible for the project and his design was clearly based on Greenway's original, a mark of the respect held for Greenway's work. Although the building is seen as a replica of Greenway's design, Barnet incorporated other changes in the appearance of the building, particularly in the proportions of the elements, and, notably, in the larger domes and ventilators over the side wings and the projecting gallery of bluestone at the top of the tower.The light commenced operation in 1883 and had a range of twenty five miles. The technology used in this lighthouse (it was one of the first electrically powered lighthouses in the world) was such that a higher level of expertise in the maintenance was required and hence a larger number of staff. This led to the construction in 1881 of two semidetached cottages for the assistants to the Head Keeper. In 1885 new quarters were built for the Engineer and his assistant.The Head Keeper's Quarters were modified in 1887 after complaints about the standardof accommodation. The western wing of this building was added in 1899. Despite having once been thought to be the 'most efficient light in the world', by 1909 it was deemed to be obsolete, unable to cope with the heavy winter fogs. In 1912, following a call to standardise all lighthouses, the electric light at the Macquarie Lighthouse was replaced with a kerosene system. The new fuel was cheaper to run and required just two men to operate. On 1st July 1915 all the ocean lighthouses were transferred to the control of the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service.The fortifications at South Head were upgraded during World War II. At the lightstation, this included the construction of an observation post east of the lighthouse and a nearby shaft and tunnel, the location of which has since been obscured.After the war there was a rapid development in other navigational systems, and the lighthouse became simply one of a number of aids which enabled the mariner to determine his exact position. The importance of manned lighthouses such as Macquarie also decreased with the advent of integrated air systems for surveillance, search and rescue.By 1965 the existing garage to the east of the Head Keeper's Quarters had been constructed and in 1970 the 1885 Barnet-designed Engineer and Assistant's Quarters were demolished to make way for the existing row of four townhouses. These originally accommodated the Workshop Supervisor and the Mechanics. The road access on the southern side of the site was also constructed during this time.The station was fully automated in 1976 but the residences remained occupied by staff. In 1980 the Commonwealth Department of Construction carried out a series of works to return the Head Keeper's Quarters to its 1899 form in anticipation of it opening as a museum; however the decision to set up a museum was never taken.In 1989 all staff associated with the Commonwealth Department of Shipping and Transport left the site. The Commonwealth leased the Assistant Keepers' Quarters in 1991 and the Head Keeper's Quarters in 1994 as private residences, both for 125 years. The townhouses are now leased as residences on a short-term basis and the lighthouse is leased to AMSA . |
| 撮影日 | 2012-02-21 10:49:50 |
| 撮影者 | Sydney Heritage |
| タグ | |
| 撮影地 | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 地図 |