The Barrenjoey Head Lighthouse is a heritage-listed lighthouse at Barrenjoey Headland in the Sydney suburb of Palm Beach, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by James Barnet, the New South Wales Colonial Architect and built by Isaac Banks. It is also known as Barrenjoey Head Lightstation. The property is owned by Office of Environment and Heritage, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. The lightstation was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
Completed in 1881, the current lighthouse is the third light constructed on the headland in the Northern Beaches district of Sydney. The light is automated and operated by Transport for NSW; while the buildings and headland are managed by the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service as part of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.
History Aboriginal Heritage The area was known to be occupied by the Garigal people. There has not been a systematic search undertaken on the headland but numerous sites are known including three listed Aboriginal archaeological sites on Barrenjoey Headland, two middens and a cave. None of the known sites are close to the lighthouse precinct. A number of Aboriginal shell middens were exploited in Colonial times as for the burning of lime.
European History
The headland was first named as "Barrenjuee" by Governor Phillip in 1788 from the Aboriginal name for small wallaby. After many interpretations, the name is now "Barranjoey" on Admiralty maps and "Barrenjoey" on road maps. Broken Bay was once, due to the Hawkesbury River trade, a thriving port. The river was then navigable to Windsor allowing steamers carrying passengers and produce. The trade was extensively agricultural and also included the valued commodity, rum. During these early years of the Bay's use as a port, a stone jetty was constructed and a number of buildings erected to house Customs and cargo. The Customs Station established in 1843 included a wooden hut on top of Barrenjoey from which all vessels entering and leaving the port could be observed. A light was reputedly first displayed at Barrenjoey Head in rough weather in 1855, reputedly a fire basket lit in the hut, however, the first official lighthouse began operating in 1868 when two wooden buildings called the Stewart Towers were erected and lanterns shown from them as guides to mariners. The Stewart Towers, named after Robert Stewart, the member for East Sydney, who lobbied for their erection, were erected as temporary navigation aids. Broken Bay and the Pittwater were a safe haven in storms to vessels carrying coal from Newcastle to Sydney. Similarly, barges carrying food down the Hawkesbury River were a key food source for Sydney, and would harbour in the bay, awaiting favourable weather before making the journey to Sydney.Macken, James J. Martin Burke: The Father of Pittwater. Anchor Publications. Holding: National Library of Australia.
In 1873 it was recommended by Francis Hixson (President of the Marine Board of NSW) that a single permanent lighthouse replace the temporary Stewart Towers. Plans were subsequently prepared and the present lighthouse and surrounding buildings were completed and the light was first exhibited on 1 August 1881. The need for the navigational aid around Broken Bay was highlighted by the number of wrecks in the area. Among the first of many wrecks in Broken Bay was the schooner Endeavour in 1825. Three lives were lost in the wreck of the ketch Traveller in 1868 and six died when the brig Minora was wrecked in 1898. Barnet had made a survey of the headland in 1877 and decided on the best location for the light. The land was then in private ownership and known as Larkfield Farm having been originally granted to James Napper in 1816.
After some delay, the foundation stone was finally laid in April 1880, by Miss Rosa Barnet. The buildings are constructed from Hawkesbury sandstone quarried on the headland, and were constructed by Mr Isaac Banks as designed by James Barnet. The original light shown from the present tower was fixed red and featured four wick burners with red screens. The tower base is octagonal in plan and features a number of small openings and Queen Victoria's 1880 royal cypher carved in the stone. The circular tower rises above the base three storeys and features large stone brackets which support the gallery around the lantern. An oil room and corridor at the base of the tower provides access to the tower which internally features iron floors and stairs. It is connected to the head keeper's cottage by a covered stair with a windbreak wall. The head keepers quarters and assistants quarters are built within a series of sandstone walls which give a compound like environment relatively protected from prevailing winds. The head keepers quarters feature verandah covered by the sweep of the corrugated iron clad roof, the decorative timber fretwork long gone. A large bay breaks the verandah at the northwestern corner in the Headkeepers quarters. The basement features a kitchen fireplace and courtyard enclosed by a massive rubble wall and with a privy in the southeast corner. The semi-detached cottages essentially consist of four rooms about a central corridor with a service block and privy in the rear courtyard. Verandahs shade the chief rooms and a covered walkway links them with the service block at their rear.
The lighthouse construction cost was £13,695, plus £2,210 for the lamp. At an elevation of , it is visible to a distance of out to sea.
The current tower is unpainted and built of the rich-coloured local sandstone. The original lighting apparatus was a fixed red dioptric of 700 candlepower with 4 oil wick burners. In 1900, an explosion followed by a fire destroyed the ornamental roof on the adjacent oil house. The flames were subdued before reaching the tower.
During the 1931 a live bombing range was established at the entrance of Broken Bay. A target consisting of a carley float was towed into position and anchored when required for the exercises. Bombing signals were installed at the Barrenjoey Lighthouse and monitored by the keepers. The lighthouse boatsheds were used for the storage of the float and equipment. In 1932, the Barrenjoey Lighthouse was converted to automatic operation with the installation of an acetylene Dalén light of 6,000 candlepower. It was turned off and on by a Sun valve. Although the acetylene gas apparatus was efficient, access to the tower for re-supply presented problems, so in 1972 the lighthouse was converted to electric operation, with a new lamp capable of 75,000 candlepower.
With automation, the lightkeepers were no longer needed and finally withdrawn. This left the area unprotected. During the 1940s correspondence concerning the lease of the headland and cottages outlined certain conditions. A lease of a portion of the defence reserve including part of the lighthouse property required an agreement that no structures be erected or any other work be carried out that will obstruct the view of or from the lighthouse, Trig Station or Gledhill Lookout Cairn. Work should also not interfere in any way with the Mulhall's grave and old Lighthouse monument. A memo to the property officer dated 1944 noted that the cottages at the lighthouse were broken into and one cottage in particular was damaged. A number of enquiries were made from this time relating the lease of the cottages and surrounding land. In 1949 approval was given the Warringah Shire Council for a permissive occupancy of an unleased portion of the defence reserve at Barrenjoey. The cottages were finally reoccupied during the 1950s and have since been restored and altered according to the needs of the tenants.
Since the 1980s it has been featured heavily in the soap opera Home and Away, both during the credits and during the show itself.
Keepers and cottages
There is a head keeper's cottage as well as two assistant keeper's cottages located on the headland. They are built from Hawkesbury sandstone quarried from the site, and have galvanized iron roofs.
Keepers of the lighthouse were: Ordinal Keeper Start date End date Notes George Mulhall 1881 1885 George Mulhall, Jnr. 1881? 1891 Robert William Russell 1910 1920 Richard Sullivan 1921 1925 1925 1931 John Berryman 1931 1932 automated 1932 1960 Cottages were unoccupied and subject to neglect and vandalism 1960 1997 The cottages were leased 1997 present The cottages were taken over by the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS), who removed many non-native plants and spent $230,000 restoring the cottages, lighthouse, and walking tracks.
For 31 years, from 1968 until 1999, Jervis Sparks leased Cottage 2 at Barrenjoey lighthouse. It was an assistant keeper's cottage and had no electricity nor running water. When he took over the lease it was a vandalised ruin, and over many years he restored it to a comfortable 1800s era home, full of warmth and character. Sparks' Montreal born wife, Bridget, and he were married there in 1974. They were the unofficial caretakers of the lightstation and the headland. In 1992 Sparks published the first definitive history of that lighthouse, Tales From Barranjoey, written on a Macintosh PowerBook 100 and powered via a solar panel. 3,000 copies were printed and the few remaining copies are collector's items, as the book is now out of print. Sparks was forced to vacate to Queensland when the management of all Australian lightstations (now all automatic and without any keepers or other protective human presence) was transferred from Commonwealth control, under the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), to state control, which in this case was the NPWS. Sparks continued to advise NPWS on all historical and environmental concerns concerning Barrenjoey Headland. Before leaving, Bridget and Jervis Sparks were awarded the first-ever issued Pittwater Medal by Pittwater Council for their years of volunteer, historical and environmental work for the benefit of Barrenjoey, Palm Beach and the Northern Beaches in general. Jervis Sparks has decided to complete a quartet of books about Barrenjoey lighthouse, resulting in the second book, The Red Light of Palm Beach, detailing the lives of many of the lighthouse keepers who manned Barrenjoey from 1881 until 1932, when it became automated.
The light itself is currently operated by Transport for NSW.
International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend Each year the Manly-Warringah Radio Society celebrate International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend by activating an amateur radio station at the Barrenjoey lighthouse. The goal of the weekend is "to promote public awareness of lighthouses and lightships and their need for preservation and restoration, to promote amateur radio and to foster International goodwill". Over the course of the weekend some of the over 400 radio-active lighthouses around the world will be contacted from headland, usually on HF frequencies.
Description Context The headland projects out into Broken Bay forming its southern entrance. To the north is Bouddi National Park along the Central Coast. Lion Island and the northern shore of Broken Bay present a natural backdrop. Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park defines the western side of Pittwater, with West Head as the most prominent topographical feature. In Broken Bay are three island nature reserves; Lion Island, located just inside the entrance to Broken Bay and visible from Barrenjoey, was classified as a nature reserve under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1967; Long Island and Spectacle Island reserves, dedicated in 1972, are located further inland and are important for their natural and cultural values. Palm Beach sweeps south of the Barrenjoey Headland. Further south, stretches of beach are framed by the various points and headlands.
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