Althorpe Island lighthouse

Enjoying some of the most picturesque lighthouse views in Australia, the Althorpe Island Lighthouse sits atop precipitous cliffs rising 91 metres above Investigator Strait in South Australia.

The cliffs presented a serious challenge for the engineers charged with the lighthouse construction. Before commencing work in 1878, a jetty and a tramway up the cliff face had to be built to facilitate the movement of materials and supplies for construction. This was later converted to a flying-fox system in 1885.

The lighthouse itself was built using a mixture of limestone and hard sandstone quarried from the Island. Powered by a four-wick oil burner and a Chance Brothers 12-inch diameter lantern with a first order dioptric lens (sixteen panels). The new lighthouse was first lit on 14 February 1879. The lighthouse, three keepers’ cottages and a shed cost £11,299 to construct.

In 1991, the light was converted to operate on automatic solar power and was then declared part of a conservation park in 1996. The Friends of Althorpe Island now assist Yorke District Staff to manage the Althorpe Islands Conservation Park.

Life on the island

The first three keepers of Althorpe Island Lighthouse wasted no time in giving rise to a community of children.

Within just two-and-a-half years of the lighthouse commencing work on Valentines Day, five children had been born. The three keepers had many more children in following years.

A casualty of isolation

Life on Althorpe Island saw its fair share of accidents and casualties and the isolation meant help was not readily available.

Magnificent views: Althorpe Island lighthouse at sunset.

Image supplied by Gary Searle.

During construction of the tramway up the cliff-face in 1878, a well-respected foreman was crushed by falling rock while he slept in his tent on the beach below the cliff. Without a surgeon, they were unable to save him and his passing left a shadow on the remaining workers who liked and respected him. After that, the workers moved their tents to the top of the cliff.

In 1890, the wife of the head keeper— Mary Ann Webling—died giving birth to their tenth child. The head keeper later remarried and one of the children—Darcy Webling—became the lighthouse’s third keeper.

In 1908, Darcy accidentally shot himself in the chest while he was hunting for goat on the island, but in the end luck was on his side. The other two keepers found him and tried unsuccessfully for days to attract the assistance of passing ships, so they set off a distress rocket. The rocket exploded only six metres into the air, a piece of shrapnel causing one of the other keepers to lose the use of his right leg. However, the distress rocket was successful in getting the attention of a passing ship, which took the injured keepers to Port Lincoln for medical attention.