Corny Point Lighthouse with stobie pole carrying power source, Yorke Peninsula South Australia

            First lit on the night of 1 March 1882 the lighthouse has flashed it’s signal across Spencer Gulf ever since.

On 6 February 1881 officers of the Marine Board went ashore at Corny Point to select a site for the lighthouse. Soon after a contact was let to undertake the building work from locally available stone.

The first lighthouse keepers arrived 19 February 1882 and the last keepers departed on 30 June 1920.

In 1915 the federal Government proclaimed the Lighthouse Act which created the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service with responsibility to establish and maintain lighthouses, lightships, beacons and buoys.

At that time Corny Point lighthouse was transferred to the Commonwealth along with hundreds of other State lights and since then has remained the responsibility of the Australian Government.
Corny Point Lighthouse is now an integral part of Australia’s aids to navigation network which completely covers our coastline in order to assist the safe passage by all vessels.

Technical Details : -
Daymark: White round stone tower and lantern, 15 metres high
Character: Flashing (4) in 20.0 secs
Colour of light: White, Red
Sectors: Red 029 degrees – 054 degrees
Lantern: Chance Bros. 3rd Order, 8’11” diameter
Lens: Chance Bros. 500 mm focal radius
Power Source: 12V Main Optic Supply with battery back up
Intensity: White 24,000 candelas  Red 5,000 candelas
Elevation: 30 metres
Range: Nominal white: 13 nautical miles red: 13 nautical miles

The rocky headland upon which the lighthouse is built and the submerged reefs nearby were a hazard to sailing ships trading in Spencer Gulf. To enter the Gulf and make their way to Port Victoria, Clippers needed the light from the lighthouse to aid their navigation.

The light was manned for 37 years. Logs from this period show happiness, tragedy and drama in the everyday lives of the keepers and their families. Several children died whilst living in the cottages and Mr Mathieson, a relieving keeper, drowned in the surf in 1899. In 1913 one of the keepers married a local farmer’s daughter. Schoolchildren visited the site in 1891 to plant 80 trees on the reserve around the cottages.

A telegram was sent to one keeper in 1882 to direct him to switch off the oil lamps in the cottages if they constituted a navigation hazard. Gale force winds damaged the chimney of the houses and in 1908 the ceiling of the head keeper’s residence fell in during a storm. Earth tremors were recorded on several occasions and in 1901 the base of the lighthouse was damaged. It is recorded that one day a school of salmon was so large that it took the whole day to round this point to enter the Gulf. Goats that were kept at the cottages caused considerable damage to the vegetation. Marram grass was planted on the northern dune at Berry Bay to try to combat erosion.

The most famous of all the keepers was Captain Webling. On 30 June 1920 the lighthouse was de-manned and the lighthouse keeper, his wife, family and belongings were rowed to the SS Lady Loch for their last voyage from the light.
The storeroom and cottages were demolished by Edgar Filmer. Some of the stone was used to build a house locally on Section 103. 
However the light continued to shine until World War Two when it was extinguished for several weeks from 11 December 1942 due to a fear of a Japanese invasion. 

   

Taken on: October 6, 2018

Tags:

Corny

Point

Peninsula

lighthouse

navigation

signals

Chance Bros

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Spencer

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Captain Webling

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D7100

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Sets appears in: • Yorke Peninsula Part 1 South Australia • Lighthouses & Navigation Aids

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Camera: Nikon D7100, f/9.0, 1/320 sec, 18mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D7100
Aperture:	f/9.0
Exposure Time:	0.003 sec (1/320)
Focal Length:	18mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Not Defined
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Windows Photo Editor 10.0.10011.16384
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