Location:

Tacking Point Lighthouse stands on a prominent headland 8 km south of Port Macquarie, New South Wales. The point forms part of an important coastal navigation system, offering visibility along a challenging section of the NSW coast that was historically treacherous for shipping.

Summary:

GPS: Lat: 31° 29′ S Long: 152° 56′ E

First Lit: 4th April, 1879 (Automated 1919, demanned 1920)

Tower height: 7 meters

Focal Height: 34 meters above sea level

Original Lens: Fourth Order dioptric lens

Range: 16 nautical miles

Characteristic: Four white flashes every 20 seconds [Fl (4)W 20s]

History:

Indigenous:

The area around Tacking Point holds significant cultural importance for the Birpai (also spelled Biripi) people, who have maintained connection to this country for thousands of years. The headland served as an important lookout point and food gathering area, with the surrounding coast providing abundant seafood and the adjacent lands offering a variety of traditional food sources.

Archaeological evidence in the region, including middens, demonstrates the long history of Indigenous occupation and use of the coastal resources around Tacking Point.

Colonial:

Tacking Point was named by explorer Matthew Flinders in 1802 during his 1802/3 circumnavigation of Australia. The name “Tacking Point” comes from the maritime practice of tacking (zigzagging) that ships needed to perform around this headland.

Port Macquarie was founded in 1821 as a penal colony but by 1831 had developed into a free settlers township mainly due to the supply of convict labour and abundant natural resources including timber, agricultural land and developing civic infrastructure and port facilities as the only reliable access was by sea.

The Lighthouse:

This resulted in increasing maritime traffic along the coast in the mid-1800s and highlighted the need for a navigation aid at this location as there were few lights and in the Tacking Point area more than 20 shipwrecks had occurred.

Tacking Point Lighthouse was is the thirteenth oldest lighthouse in Australia, the smallest in NSW and was built by Shepherd and Joseph William Mortley in 1879, to a design by Colonial Architect James Barnet as part of his systematic plan to illuminate the NSW coastline.

The Structure:

The lighthouse was one of the first set of small temples-of-the-winds style lighthouses built in NSW, marking a departure from the larger structures that had been built previously. The lighthouse is constructed of cement-rendered brick and stands just 7 meters high, making it the smallest lighthouses on the NSW coast. Despite its modest size, the structure exhibits the elegant architectural style characteristic of Barnet’s work, with its simple yet graceful design serving as both a functional navigation aid and an aesthetic addition to the coastline.

Technical Details:

The lighthouse was initially equipped with a Fourth Order dioptric lens, which was appropriate for its role as a coastal navigation aid. The light source was converted from liquid fuel to acetylene gas in 1919 removing the need for a resident lighthouse keeper. On two occasions in 1923 the unattended light extinguished causing concern about the reliability of this important navigation mark. The lighthouse was converted to mains electricity in 1974 and more recently updated to its current automated solar-powered operation.

Keepers of the Light:

Due to the fact Tacking Point lighthouse was one of the first lights to be automated and only manned for 29 years there isn’t a reliable record of the keepers. However, a newspaper report in 1899 described Tacking Point lighthouse as an ‘object of interest, very prettily situated’ and commented on its perfect order and cleanliness due to the efforts of the lighthouse keeper Mr T Robinson and his wife. The Robinson’s were obliging in showing visitors over the building, a practice that continued until World War I when visitors were banned under the War Precautions Act.

A lighthouse keeper’s existence could be a lonely one and for Tacking Point lighthouse keeper James Quinn, a dangerous one. Mr. Quinn had been the lighthouse keeper here for three years when, driving home one afternoon in July 1910, his horse bolted into a fence whilst going down a steep incline close by the lighthouse. Mr. Quinn was thrown out of his buggy and died shortly afterwards.

The keepers cottage was demolished in 1920 but it’s foundations are still intact, adjacent to the lighthouse.

Shipwrecks & Tragedies:

In the mid-nineteenth century, there were few lights in the Tacking Point area and over 20 ships were wrecked. The first occurred in December 1823 when the schooner Black Jack was wrecked on the Port Macquarie bar.  Other ships to meet a similar fate included the schooner Sumatra in the same year and the following , Mary Ann (1825), Sally (1825), Vixen (1828), Wanderer (1851), Vixen II (1866) and Ballina (1877) which prompted the commissioning of the Tacking Point Lighthouse.

Despite the dedication of our lighthouse keeper the Australasian Steam Navigation Company’s steamer Wotonga ran aground on a reef about one mile south of the Tacking Point lighthouse in January 1882. The accident was attributed to fog obscuring the light. All passengers and crew were safely brought to shore.

Other shipwrecks on the mid-north coast included the Richmond (1884), Josephine (1885), Lillian (1887), Ballengarra (1891), Jessie Sinclair (1897), Trilby (1907) and Korora (1917).

Current Status:

Tacking Point Lighthouse continues to serve as an active aid to navigation, managed by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and is classified by the National Trust of Australia (NSW) as the lighthouse and its surrounds are protected under heritage legislation recognizing its historical significance in Australia’s maritime history. Management of the lighthouse is shared by the New South Wales Department of Lands owns the lighthouse and the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council manages the site.