Guilderton Lighthouse stands at Wreck Point near the mouth of the Moore River, representing the only major navigation light between Fremantle and the lighthouse on Escape Island off Jurien Bay and the last lighthouse to be built in Western Australia.

While this is Western Australia’s newest lighthouse it has a long and tragic history.

Before European settlement this region was home to the Yued people for thousands of years and was originally known as Gabbadah, meaning “a mouthful of water”. This all changed in 1836 when George Fletcher Moore led an expedition through the region and gave his name to the river. However, this region witnessed much earlier European contact which has become one of Western Australia’s greatest maritime mysteries.

On the night of 28 April 1656, the Dutch East India Company ship Vergulde Draeck struck a submerged coral reef midway between what are now the coastal towns of Seabird and Ledge Point. The ship was carrying 193 crew members and a cargo including goods valued at 106,400 florins and eight chests of silver coins worth 78,600 florins. The ship ran aground at night on an offshore reef and immediately broke up with only 75 of the 193 crew making it to shore in two boats.

The fate of those who reached land remains one of Australia’s most enduring mysteries. The under steersman Abraham Leeman and six crew members were sent to Batavia in the ship’s one surviving small boat, arriving 40 days later after an epic journey of some 1,400 nautical miles. Almost immediately after hearing news of the wreck, the Dutch East India Company dispatched two vessels, Goede Hope and Witte Valk, to search for the wreck and survivors, but both ships were forced to return empty handed due to violent storms and rough seas. A number of rescue missions were dispatched between 1656 and 1658, suffering the loss of a further 11 rescuers but no survivors were ever found. The disappearance of 68 men has never been explained despite searches that continued sporadically for decades and speculation that has endured for centuries.

The mystery came back to life in dramatic fashion in the twentieth century. In 1931 40 silver guilder coins from the 17th century were found in the sandhills near the entrance to the Moore River. A young boy uncovered the Dutch coins and a skeleton in the sand dunes near Guilderton, confirming many people’s suspicions that the wreck of the ship was nearby. These discoveries would ultimately give the settlement its official name and the township was gazetted and named Guilderton on 28 November 1951, the coins thought to be from the wreck of the Vergulde Draeck. The wreck itself was not discovered until 14 April 1963 by a group of spearfishers including Graeme Henderson, who later became a well-known maritime archaeologist and Director of the Western Australian Maritime Museum.

The waters off Guilderton had claimed other vessels including the Emily was lost on 13 June 1868 while on her return voyage from Port Irwin to Fremantle carrying copper ore. Debris from the ship was later discovered on Rottnest Island and only after two months was the Emily’s resting place found on the beach at what is now known as Wreck Point where the lighthouse now stands. Fourteen shipwrecks have been located off the coast between Wreck Point and Lancelin/Wedge Island making this stretch of coastline one of the most hazardous in Western Australia.

In 1983, the Federal Department of Transport established a lighthouse at Wreck Point, Guilderton near the river mouth at a cost of $240,000. This was the last brick tower style lighthouse built in Australia. Unlike the earlier generation of Australian lighthouses that required keepers and their families the Guilderton Lighthouse was never manned. The new tower was constructed in specially tapered red clay bricks, standing 32 metres high with a base 7.5 metres in diameter. Placed on top was the white metal lantern house containing a triple bulls-eye lens that displayed a light with a range of 22 nautical miles. The light sits 76.75 metres above sea level providing a commanding view across the approaches to the Moore River and the dangerous reefs that had claimed so many vessels over the centuries.

The lighthouse’s design represents both a departure from and a continuation of Australian lighthouse architecture. The lighthouse has a slightly smaller and older twin at Troubridge Hill (built in 1980) on the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia, and both have won architectural awards. The distinctive red brick construction sets it apart from the white-painted or cast iron towers that characterise most of Australia’s earlier lighthouses.

The lighthouse commenced operation in December 1983, taking its place as the final addition to Western Australia’s network of coastal lights. Its construction came more than three centuries after the Vergulde Draeck tragedy that would ultimately give the area its name.

This lighthouse represents the culmination of Western Australia’s lighthouse construction program, standing as the final beacon in a network developed over nearly two centuries to protect mariners along one of the world’s most challenging coastlines. Built with modern technology and automated from its inception, it guards waters that have witnessed four centuries of maritime activity, from Dutch East India Company vessels to contemporary shipping, while the mysteries of those lost at sea—particularly the fate of the Vergulde Draeck survivors—remain among Australia’s most enduring historical enigmas.

Technical Summary

First Exhibited: December 1983
Status: Active (Automated, unmanned)
Location: Wreck Point, Guilderton, at the mouth of Moore River, Western Australia (approximately 94 kilometres north of Perth)
Historical Significance: Last lighthouse built in Western Australia; only major navigation light between Fremantle and Jurien Bay
Construction Cost: $240,000 (Federal Department of Transport)
Construction Material: Specially tapered red clay bricks
Tower Height: 32 metres
Base Diameter: 7.5 metres
Elevation: 76.75 metres above sea level

Lantern House: White metal construction
Design Recognition: Architectural award winner (shared with twin at Troubridge Hill, South Australia)

Optical System: Triple bulls-eye lens
Visibility: 22 nautical miles (nominal range)
Characteristic: 3 flashes every 20 seconds
Operation: Fully automated from commissioning
Management: Australian Maritime Authority