Split Point Lighthouse
Encyclopedia
Split Point Lighthouse is a lighthouse
located in Aireys Inlet
, a small town on the Great Ocean Road
, Victoria
, Australia
.
The original British
-made first order Fresnel lens
is still in use. However, the factory in Birmingham
, where the lens was built, was bombed during war-time and the essential formulae for making the unique lens crystal were lost, should a replacement ever be needed.
A Japan
ese firm, consulted by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority
, estimated the cost of replacing the lens at more than A$1 million.
Under standard Australian lighthouse convention, red filters would usually be placed to the extreme left and right of the beam (indicating "danger zones" for a passing ship, in-line with the jagged coastline). For reasons unknown, the Split Point Lighthouse operated for many years under the opposite system; although this has now been corrected.
Since summer 2005, the Split Point Lighthouse has been offering regular 30 minute guided tours, during which visitors have the chance to climb the original staircase and experience the view from the balcony just below the lantern room. Tours had been available for much of the 1990s, but on only a few days per year.
The top of the lighthouse is also now used as a mobile phone
base station
, making it dangerous to enter the lantern room (or any area above) whilst it is in operation, due to possible exposure to RF radiation.
The original lighthouse keeper's quarters, a detached house adjacent to the site, is now a privately owned residence.
used the area around the Split Point Lighthouse for many external scenes.
The lighthouse features prominently as the scene of a murder in Arthur Upfield
's detective novel, "The New Shoe" featuring his famous detective Napoleon Bonaparte
.
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
located in Aireys Inlet
Aireys Inlet, Victoria
Aireys Inlet is a small coastal inlet and town located on the Great Ocean Road, southwest of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Aireys Inlet is located between Anglesea and Lorne, and joined with Fairhaven to the west. At the 2006 census, Aireys Inlet had a population of 1,148.Many surfers holiday in...
, a small town on the Great Ocean Road
Great Ocean Road
The Great Ocean Road is a stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Warrnambool. The road was built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932, and is the world's largest war memorial; dedicated to casualties of World War I...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
History
Originally called Eagles Nest Point, the lighthouse was originally built in 1891. It was converted to automatic operation in 1919.The original British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-made first order Fresnel lens
Fresnel lens
A Fresnel lens is a type of lens originally developed by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel for lighthouses.The design allows the construction of lenses of large aperture and short focal length without the mass and volume of material that would be required by a lens of conventional design...
is still in use. However, the factory in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, where the lens was built, was bombed during war-time and the essential formulae for making the unique lens crystal were lost, should a replacement ever be needed.
A Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese firm, consulted by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority
Australian Maritime Safety Authority
Australian Maritime Safety Authority is responsible, on behalf of the Commonwealth Government of Australia, for the regulation and safety oversight of Australia's shipping fleet and management of Australia's international maritime obligations...
, estimated the cost of replacing the lens at more than A$1 million.
Under standard Australian lighthouse convention, red filters would usually be placed to the extreme left and right of the beam (indicating "danger zones" for a passing ship, in-line with the jagged coastline). For reasons unknown, the Split Point Lighthouse operated for many years under the opposite system; although this has now been corrected.
Today
The top of the lighthouse is also now used as a mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
base station
Base station
The term base station can be used in the context of land surveying and wireless communications.- Land surveying :In the context of external land surveying, a base station is a GPS receiver at an accurately-known fixed location which is used to derive correction information for nearby portable GPS...
, making it dangerous to enter the lantern room (or any area above) whilst it is in operation, due to possible exposure to RF radiation.
The original lighthouse keeper's quarters, a detached house adjacent to the site, is now a privately owned residence.
Popular culture
The popular children's television series Round the TwistRound the Twist
Round the Twist is a Logie Award-winning Australian children's television series about three children and their widowed father who live in a lighthouse and become involved in many magical adventures....
used the area around the Split Point Lighthouse for many external scenes.
The lighthouse features prominently as the scene of a murder in Arthur Upfield
Arthur Upfield
Arthur William Upfield was an Australian writer, best known for his works of detective fiction featuring Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte of the Queensland Police Force, a half-caste Aborigine....
's detective novel, "The New Shoe" featuring his famous detective Napoleon Bonaparte
Bony (Fictional Character)
Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte is a half Aboriginal, half-white detective character created by Arthur Upfield. Bony appeared in dozens of Upfield's novels from the late 1920s until the author's death in 1964.-Early life:...
.