Cape Bowling Green lighthouse
John & Jacob Rooney1873 – 1874
Australian National Maritime Museum
Sydney, Australia
The Cape Bowling Green lighthouse, built by John and Jacob Rooney between July 1873 to October 1874, is an 'ironclad' design. It consists of a hardwood frame surrounded by prefabricated iron cladding imported from Great Britain, with softwood internal staircase and floors. At the top of the tower is a cast iron compartment called the lantern room, in which the lens is housed. The lantern room has a balcony and a cast iron ball with a weather vane on its roof. During its operational life from 1874 to 1987 its cladding and internal structures were replaced as they became worn or rusted.
The lens currently in the lantern room is a third-order dioptric lens supplied by Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) in 1993, similar to the original lens which was removed in 1920 when the lighthouse was automated.
- Title: Cape Bowling Green lighthouse
- Creator: John & Jacob Rooney
- Date: 1873 – 1874
- Location: Britain
- Type: Lighthouse
- Significance: The Cape Bowling Green lighthouse represents a specific design of lighthouse developed by the Queensland Colonial Government for unique Australian conditions - prefabricated steel and timber for assembly in remote, inaccessible locations. Queensland's lighthouse construction programme was a major factor in the development of Australian coastal and overseas shipping and trade, designed to protect shipping along the inner passage route through the Barrier Reef.
- See institution's online collections: http://www.anmm.gov.au/collections
- Medium: Iron, wood, copper, bronze, brass, glass, paint
- Dimensions: 21000 x 6400 mm
- Credit line: ANMM Collection Gift from the Department of Transport and Communications
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