Barrenjoey lighthouse

The Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife has received a generous donation towards upgrading the walking tracks, landscaping and interpretive signage at the historic Barrenjoey Lighthouse.

The gift of $51,000 from the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation will go a long way towards giving the day visitor area a long deserved face-lift. However the Foundation is still seeking a further $16,000 to complete this project, which is the first step in implementing a much larger heritage improvement plan.

A long way to go: heritage landscaping will improve existing walking tracks.
Photo Carmen Welss FNPW

The Hawkesbury sandstone-hewn Barrenjoey Lighthouse (c.1881) with surrounding light keeper’s cottages, fuel store and allotted acreage is the “jewel-in-the-crown” of Pittwater and Broken Bay. It is destined for a preservation upgrade with the preparation of a heritage landscape plan initiated by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, (NPWS) Northern Beaches area. The proposed upgrade is aimed at:

• improving the protection and presentation of heritage values and resources within the site
• improving the amenity and increasing safety for visitors
• recognising the sites’ desired character and "sense of place"
• ensuring environmental sustainability.

Barrenjoey light station was commissioned in 1873 as a navigational aid due to the high incidence of shipwrecks (and smuggling).

Today it serves as a pristine heritage example of late Victorian sandstone architecture. The lighthouse was completed in 1881 with quarried materials sourced from the headland and hewn by Isaac Banks in accordance with the designs by the NSW colonial architect, James Barnet. Lighthouse automation replaced manual lighthouse keeper duties in 1932. However, the lighthouse’s architectural legacy has left the Pittwater community with not only a splendid piece of maritime architectural ingenuity, but also with a unique complex of buildings.

The 10 hectare periphery of coastal reserve defines an era of crucial maritime history relative to the Northern Beaches and Pittwater basin. It is a reflection of the economic development of the region, through the then prevalent coastal and commercial shipping routes.

From 1997 the NSW Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) managed the surrounding reserve and in 1998 acquired the adjoining Barrenjoey Lighthouse and cottages. The site was heritage listed in 1999, initiating an on-going endeavour for heritage preservation and environmental conservation for the Barrenjoey peninsula.

Representing over 150 years of occupation, Barrenjoey headland’s cultural landscape will be enhanced by retaining native vegetation and flora, once prevalent during the light station’s period of human habitation. The removal of exotic weeds will recapture the interface between the cultural and natural landscape of the lighthouse and it’s carpeting of coastal heath land.

With the funds from the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service will provide new paths, safe access points for visitors, panoramic vantage points, heritage signage and information posts for clearer and readily defined accessibility.

According to NPWS Ranger Mark Watt the landscape works should commence in February and be completed by April 2004.

Mr Watt said that initial steps towards the lighthouse conservation and maintenance works had involved the removal of 15-tonnes of weeds and overgrown vegetation, which was airlifted off the headland by helicopter.

He added, “Extensive weeding work was essential to protect the fabric of the historic sandstone cottages and return the landscape to how it was early last century. The mammoth weeding effort actually revealed the original landscape of grassed terraces flanked by sandstone, which had been hidden for years”.

Complementing the removal of noxious weeds, a hired lighthouse expert repainted, waterproofed and repaired the glass and metal dome of the light-tower.

“All buildings on the site have had their roofs replaced. This was essential as they were in such poor condition – again material was flown in using the NPWS helicopter”, said Mr Watt.

An extended vision for a complete upgrade depends on the availability of future funding. An additional $200,000 to $400,000 over five years is needed to upgrade the six precincts nominated in the heritage landscape plan.

As Mark Watt emphasised, “If more funds are forthcoming the project will be extended. The current funding will only complete approximately 25 % of the total landscape works in the lighthouse precinct. At the moment we have no further benefactors other than the NPWS and FNPW”, adding, “We are on the look-out, though”.

Once completed, the upgraded Barrenjoey Lighthouse and cottages will highlight a resplendent example of lighthouse architecture, unique in construction, and a focal point within its new landscaping.


	BARRENJOEY LIGHTHOUSE: investing in our maritime cultural heritage By Javier Guiance