Old Burnett Heads Lighthouse
Other Names
Street Address
Heritage Significance
Burnett Heads Lighthouse
19 Zunker Street
Title Details/
GPS Coordinates
Burnett Heads
(E: 434051 N: 7248679), (E: 434054 N: 7248672), (E:
434055 N: 7248681), (E: 434059 N: 7248674)
Criteria
A
Statement
Historical Context
With the settlement of Bundaberg in 1867, river traffic plying cargo for the growing district prompted the need for
navigational and piloting services. Joseph Hughes was appointed Harbour Master, Police Magistrate and Chief of Customs
at Bundaberg on 22 June 1871 by the Department of Ports and Marinas.
The Pilot Station Reserve at South Head, Burnett Heads was established with Thomas Clark appointed Pilot. Thomas,
along with his boat crew, was responsible for establishing and maintaining navigational aids. Lighting at the mouth of the
river was to be exhibited each night. Tents sufficed until cottages, along with other infrastructure, were erected to house
them comfortably at South Head. The Lady Bowen was the first vessel Pilot Clark brought up to the Wharves, which were
located in the town reach of the Burnett River.
B
Statement
Made of timber in a hexagonal shape, the Old Burnett Heads Lighthouse is 22 feet 6 inches high (approx. 6.8 metres). The
lighthouse was relocated from Cowan Cowan Point on Moreton Island in 1873 and is one of the few timber clad
hexagonal lighthouses constructed to this design in Queensland (all in the 1860s). Remaining lighthouses of a similar
construction include North Head (Bowen), Woody Island (Hervey Bay) and Cleveland.
The Queensland Government operated the lighthouse until 1916 when the Commonwealth took over responsibility.
Originally the lamp burnt China (vegetable) oil (all Australian lighthouses used vegetable oil until the later nineteenth
century). However, shortly after the lighthouse was relocated from Cowan Cowan to Burnett Heads in 1873, the lamp was
converted to kerosene operation. In 1932, the fuel for the light was converted from kerosene to acetylene gas, which
burnt brighter and cleaner.
The telegraph line from Bundaberg was completed in January 1875, thus enabling the Pilot to inform Bundaberg of
incoming ships and weather reports.
G
Statement
Definition
The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of the region’s
history.
The Old Burnett Heads Lighthouse demonstrates an important part of the
Bundaberg Region’s history, being the first and only lighthouse to have operated
in the region up until it’s decommissioning, replacement and eventual
relocation in 1972. The lighthouse plays an integral part in demonstrating the
establishment of maritime navigational aids along the Queensland coast and
reflects the growth and development of Bundaberg, Burnett Heads and
maritime services on the Burnett River.
The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of the region’s
cultural heritage.
As Burnett Heads is the only light station location in the Bundaberg Region, it
demonstrates extremely rare aspects of the Bundaberg Region’s cultural
heritage. It is one of the few extant polygonal, timber-structured, timber-clad
19th century lighthouses of its type in Queensland.
View of lighthouse and setting.
The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or
cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons important to the region.
The Old Burnett Heads Lighthouse has a special association with the local
community of Burnett Heads, given its history and the nature of the place as a
landmark for the township.
Location Map
The lighthouse was manned until a new lighthouse- a taller structure powered by electricity- was built, as prior to
technological advances keepers had to ensure that the light stayed lit and bright 24 hours a day.
The Old Burnett Heads Lighthouse was relocated in 1972 to Lighthouse Park through a joint project between the Burnett
Heads Progress Association and the Bundaberg Historical Museum Society. It was officially opened by the Queensland
National Trust and a plaque in memory of Jack Strathdee, a life member of the Historical and Museum Society, the
Progress Association and Woongarra Shire Councillor, was erected after his death in 1986. The Strathdee family had
tended to navigational beacons in the Burnett River for approximately 60 years.
View to south-west.
Physical Description
The Old Burnett Heads Lighthouse is set within Lighthouse Park in Burnett Heads and consists of a timber-framed,
hexagonal, tapering weatherboard tower, with glazed top panels capped by a metal dome roof. The lighthouse is set upon
a concrete base; it is not the original base, which remains in situ in the original location of the lighthouse. A narrow deck
walkway, with pipe rail and mesh balustrading surround the upper level.
External boarding is painted white with a notable chamfered lower edge. Timber stops, full height between each face, are
round-edged. A timber boarded door opens at ground level, capped with a curved red iron roof. Small single paned glazed
windows with timber sills, six (6) in number, appear at first and second levels, in the adjacent faces on either side of the
entry and the opposite northern face.
The interior is painted white. The cross-braced timber framing divides into three above-ground levels of timber decking,
connected by a ladder.
At the top level six (6) clear glazed panels with horizontal white timber boarded base are supported by timber brackets
connected to the base of the support trusses for the upper deck. Under the sill in the northern face, a painted timber
hatch opens on to the boarded walkway.
The deck hardware enclosure houses the light hardware with remnants of acetylene gas connectors throughout the
structure to the ground floor and remaining telegraph line and communication connections atop the red painted dome
roof.
From the upper deck of the Old Burnett Heads Lighthouse, the new Burnett Heads Lighthouse can be viewed to the east.
The original concrete slab on which the structure originally sat has been retained adjacent to the new lighthouse.
Several plaques and historical information have been erected, including a plaque above the lighthouse entrance which
Bundaberg Regional Council
Local Heritage Register
Old Burnett Heads Lighthouse
was unveiled in October, 1986 in honour of Jack Strathdee.
(Note: the acetylene burner and prisms were removed from the old lighthouse as they were not original parts; older style
lights from old apparatus at the Combruyo Point Light which were more in keeping with the period the lighthouse was
originally built were installed. The original acetylene burner used in the lighthouse is kept encased in the lobby at the
Bundaberg Regional Council Bargara Service Centre.)
Poor
Integrity
Statutory Listings No statutory listings
Non-Statutory
Listings
No non-statutory listings
Inspection Date
20/12/2012
Condition
Fair
References
Department of Environment and Heritage Protection Cultural Heritage Inventory Management System, Queensland
Heritage Register Place ID 600772, 'Cleveland Lighthouse (former)'.
Department of Environment and Heritage Protection Cultural Heritage Inventory Management System, Queensland
Heritage Register Place ID 601712, 'Sandy Cape Lighthouse'.
Marge Kidd, Burnett Heads Heritage Trail: Oaks Beach to the Lighthouses, Queensland Government Regional Arts
Development Fun, Burnett Shire Council and Classic Design and Print, Bundaberg, 2006.
Peta Browne, Local History Feature: Historic Burnett Heads Lighthouse, Bundaberg Regional Council, Bundaberg, 2009.
Bundaberg Regional Council
Local Heritage Register