Grant for new paint job
on Kangaroo Island lighthouse
One of South Australia’s oldest lighthouses is set for a new coat of paint.
Using funding from the Australian National Maritime Museum, the handsome 157-year old
Chance Brothers Lighthouse, located at Hope Cottage in Kingscote, will be repainted over the
summer.
Manufactured in 1872 by the Chance Brothers of Birmingham, the light and lantern tower started
out serving the Tiparra Reef Lighthouse before being moved to Cape Willoughby in 1923. Its
dioptric lens, which uses multiple refracting lenses to enhance the power of the light, was
considered to be cutting edge technology at the time.
The Cape Willoughby Lighthouse was the first lighthouse to serve on the treacherous Backstairs
Passage between Kangaroo Island and the mainland.
“Backstairs Passage is only eleven kilometres across, but very deep and rough,” explained Robert
Farnden, chairman of the Kangaroo Island Branch of the National Trust of South Australia.
Narrowly avoiding demolition in 1974 when the state began to automate lighthouses, the lantern
tower was salvaged by the Kangaroo Island branch of the National Trust of South Australia who
rebuilt it at Hope Cottage.
The tower will be painted using a harness suspended from the weather vein. The trust looked at
the option of a cherry picker, but realised that the 10 metre tower could only be accessed by
ropes.
“Lucky the weather vein is quite sturdy… and the painter does a lot of tree climbing,” Mr Farnden
said. The trust has employed a professional painter to paint the lacework.
“The Chance Brothers Lighthouse is an important story in Australia’s maritime history,” said Peter
Rout, Assistant Director of the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney. “We are pleased
to be able to continue to support the preservation of its history through the Maritime Museums of
Australia Project Support Scheme (MMAPPS).”
The MMAPPS scheme, which the museum funds with Australian Government’s Distributed
National Collection Program, helps regional museums, community groups and volunteers to
promote and protect Australian maritime heritage. For more information, phone (02) 9298 3777 or
11 December 2009
Australian National Maritime Museum - Bill Richards (02) 9298 3645; 0418 403 472
Images and interviews are available upon request from brichards@anmm.gov.au
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