Focus on Tasmania - Eddystone Point

EDDYSTONE POINT

Eddystone Point lighthouse, situated in the Mt William National Park 15 kilometres north of Ansons Bay on the easternmost point of Tasmania°s north-east coast, is a circular stone tower which opened on 1st May 1889.

Made of locally quarried granite and standing 36 metres high, the lighthouse has a spiral cast-iron staircase of 154 steps to the top of the light tower, and was originally lit by a kerosene lantern. The lighthouse is fully automatic and no longer manned. The light is 42 metres above sea level and visible for 38 kms. The tower is no longer open for inspection.

There are three light-keepers quarters on the station, also built from local granite. They form one of the earliest surviving group of original quarters within Tasmania and were listed with the Australian Heritage Commission in 1983.

This coastline was renowned for the number of shipwrecks during the early years of white settlement. North of Ansons Bay around the point to Georges Rocks (approx 8 km north of the gulch at Eddystone Point) has been the resting place for 30 vessels wrecked between 1846 and 1963. They ranged from ships of 520 tons to fishing boats of 17 tons.