Prism Feature - Point Cloates

Compared to other colonies, Western Australia was slow building lighthouses. Very few navigational aids were built before 1890s, when gold was discovered in Coolgardie Kalgoorlie. Until then, the ships frequented mostly the southern part of the Western Australia’s coast and most of the early lighthouses were built along the south west corner of the Swan River colony. They included Rottnest Island (Fremantle-1851), Breaksea Island and Point King (Albany-1858). Further north, early lighthouses were built with the development of pearling industry in Shark Bay and Broome at Point Moore (Geraldton 1876) and Jarman Island (Cossack 1888).

The discovery of gold and the expansion of pastoral leases in the Kimberley and Pilbara in the mid 1890s led to increased coastal shipping and the need for more lighthouses. Three lighthouses were built in the late 1890s (Cape Leeuwin and Babbage Island 1896) and Lagoon Point (Shark Bay 1899) and eight other lights (including Bathurst Point on Rottnest Island, North and South Mole in Fremantle and Cape Naturaliste near Dunsborough) came into operation between 1900 and 1905.

The true expansion of the lighthouse building came after 1906 when the Federal Government announced its intention to take over the control of all coastal lights. This prompted a flurry of activity from the West Australian Government, whose philosophy was to establish as many lights as they could afford before letting the Commonwealth Government take care of their ultimately much more expensive running costs. The Federal Government added fuel to the fire when they decided to finance the building of major lighthouses in 1909.

The area of coastline most in need of navigation lights was the north-west coast. At the request of the Public Works Department, the Chief Harbour Master, Captain G. Irvine, called for submissions from shipmasters who opined where lights should be established in the north-west. A Board of Enquiry was established to interview shipmasters and make final recommendations. The Board concurred that Cape Inscription, Point Cloates, Bedout Island and Cape Leveque and Vlaming Head were the favoured sites. Ultimately, the State had to finance only the first four lighthouses with Vlaming Head being built the expense of the Commonwealth in 1912. Point Cloates was considered dangerous because of the strong tidal currents, the low lying land in the vicinity and the reefs extending far offshore.

A number of shipwrecks have been recorded on the reef near Point Cloates since early 19th century. In 1811 the 366 ton American China trader Rapid was wrecked, followed by American galley Caledonia in 1815 and the Portuguese vessel Correo D’Azia in 1816. In 1875 the Austrian 858 ton barque Stefano on a voyage from Cardiff to Hong Kong was wrecked, only two of the crew surviving under dramatic circumstances. (See the separate story) In 1877 the 499 ton ship Perth was wrecked, her engine still visible on top of the reef. The lugger Queen was wrecked on 25 January 1892 and the steamship Mildura on 12th March 1907.

Point Cloates lighthouse and the accompanying cottages were erected on Cloates Hill, located within the Ningaloo Station pastoral lease in 1910.The construction work was carried out 'departmentally' at a total cost of £13,265.14 Locally available sandstone was used to build the tower and quarters, the stone being described as of excellent quality a pleasant warm brown in colour, but costly to work on account of its hardness. The lighthouse was 47 feet (14m) high to the gallery floor. The internal ironwork, such as floors and stairs, were designed by the Harbour and Lights Department and constructed under contract in Perth. The optic was supplied by Chance Bros Ltd of Birmingham UK, and comprised a three-sided 2nd order lens rotating in mercury bath, flashing three times every 15 seconds. The lens was rotated by a system of gears, powered by a weight descending down in a column in the centre of the tower. The light was fuelled by vaporized kerosene. The duplex Lighthouse Quarters comprised of a living room, two bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom and a store room with spacious verandahs back and front. One of the dwellings which were meant for the use of the head light keeper was slightly larger than the other. An oil store, stables and washhouses were also provided. The quarters and the oil store were connected with the beach landing by a 2-foot (1.2m) wide tramway, about 2.5 miles (4 km) in length. Supplies were brought from the beach landing on a trolley, pulled by a horse. The lightstation comprised of the area of about 15 acres. An 80-foot (24m) tall flagstaff was erected for signalling ships.

The Commonwealth Navigation Act covering lighthouses was proclaimed in 1911, but the Commonwealth did not take control until 1915. When Commander Brewis conducted his survey of lighthouses for the Commonwealth Government in 1912, he recommended that wireless telegraph communications be installed and a Morse lamp provided for communication with ships. He also recommended that the accommodation be increased for the employment of third light keeper, as the Lighthouse was 'in a very isolated position'. At the time of his survey, there was one married and one unmarried keeper resident. The extra accommodation however was never provided and post office directories continued to list only two staff at Point Cloates.

The light keepers kept watch throughout the night, starting between 4 and 6 pm and finishing as late as 8am. The light source was derived from pressurised kerosene vapour sprayed onto the mantle and it was the duty of the light keeper to keep up the pressure in the kerosene tanks as well as to periodically wind up the weight. Maintenance and other work on the light had to be carried out during the daylight hours.

The first lightkeeper in residence at Point Cloates was P.E. Stuart, with assistant F. Hill. Both remained in residence until 1924. Following the departure of Stuart and Hull in 1924, the lightkeeper was H. J.Fowles, assisted by A. Wood. In 1928, Fowles was replaced as head light keeper by H. T. Pearse, who soon resigned, after 23 years in the service. After Pearse’s retirement, Wood was promoted to head lightkeeper. Aubrey Wood had first been employed in 1919 at Rottnest Island as a relieving lightkeeper. The same year, he married Alice Hopkinson (born 1900 in Derbyshire) and soon after their first child was born, they were moved to Cape Naturaliste. In 1925 they came to Point Cloates where he was working as an assistant lightkeeper until 1928, when he was promoted to the position of a head keeper, a post he retained until he was appointed head lightkeeper at Cape Leveque in 1935-36. During this time he was assisted by W. G. McColl (1929-1933) and C. J.Johnson (1934-1936).

The two families lived in the same building. They kept the garden of cabbages, potatoes and beans. They ate goat and caught fish and the Aborigines brought other fish to them in exchange for tobacco. The women at Point Cloates and those at nearby Ningaloo pastoral station took turns at presenting weekly afternoon teas. On Saturday nights the main entertainment was card games. For the smaller children, there were school correspondence lessons until they turned nine, when they were sent to their grandparents to board and attend school.

Severe restrictions on Aboriginal-European relations affected lightkeepers, despite them being the employees of the Commonwealth. In February 1916, the Premier of Western Australia John Scadden wrote to the Acting Prime Minister pointing out that an aboriginal woman was living with one of the keepers for a considerable time both at Point Cloates and Vlaming Head, in contravention of the Aborigines Act. The keeper had a permit to employ a male Aborigine, the woman’s brother, but the chief protector of the Aborigines asked a court to cancel it. The matter was placed in the hands of the Commisioner of Police and Scadden warned that “proceedings may be taken against the lighthouse keeper in this connection”. Unfortunately, it is not know what resulted out of this complaint.

Point Cloates Lighthouse had been constructed on a sand dune which is unstable by nature and there were soon concerns about the stability and safety of the structures that were standing on it. The new light was to replace the Point Cloates Lighthouse. In 1936, an unattended acetylene gas fuelled light on a 74-foot (22.5m) steel tower was established on Frazer Island, an equally unstable sand cay in Norwegian Bay. Head light keeper J. Turner, who had replaced Aubrey Wood in 1936, and assistant light keeper C. S. Johnson were the light keepers employed at Point Cloates at the time. Their last task was to set up the light at Frazer Island. They left Point Cloates on 14 October 1936. The lantern and operating equipment from the lighthouse have been removed.

With the abandonment of Point Cloates Lightstation, letters were sent to pastoral stations in the area requesting offers for purchase and removal of the Quarters, but the only offer received was from D. & L. Black of Ningaloo Station, who offered to rent and maintain the place for two years at £5 a year. The offer was accepted. The Lighthouse tower and site however, remained in the ownership of the Commonwealth. In December 1937, Lefroy & MacBolt took over Ningaloo Station and after paying the next six months rent, declined to continue with the rental agreement, as they had no need for quarters. They reported that the lighthouse and the buildings were deteriorating The roof was rusting and wind erosion was undermining the foundations. In September 1939, Ningaloo Station purchased the quarters from the Commonwealth Department of the Interior for £30, and paid £5 for the remaining one mile of tram track and a small shed at each end. Timber and iron were removed from the roof of the Quarters and stone was removed from the walls over time. In 1958, Commonwealth interest in the Lighthouse tower and site were reassigned to the State and the land was re-incorporated into the pastoral lease, which was in the hands of F. E. & E. J. Lefroy at that time. The Lefroy's purchased the Lighthouse tower for £5.27

In the meanwhile, the replacement light on Frazer Island did not fare much better than its predecessor. Subject to sand drift and erosion caused by storms and the action of the sea the sand cay kept being eaten away until on 6 May 1966, the Frazer Island tower collapsed into the sea and a temporary light had to be erected on the Island. A new lightstation was promptly established on Perth Hill, one kilometre from former Point Cloates Lighthouse. The second Point Cloates lighthouse was a 4 m high fibreglass cabinet fitted with a sixth order rotating light. The light came into operation in July 1966 and the temporary light on Frazer Island was discontinued.

All that remains of the point Cloates lighthouse today is a ruin. It is located on Ningaloo pastoral station, approximately 100 kilometres south of Exmouth that is located 1270 km north of Perth. The site is accessed off the Minilya Exmouth Road, along corrugated unsealed road through the Bullara and Ningaloo Pastoral stations. The Lighthouse is prominent landmark approximately 2 kilometres east of the Point Cloates, rising about 9.0 metres in height from the highest point of Cloates Hill.

The 4.25 metre diameter base is defined by the remains of a concrete apron perimeter. The exterior walls are detailed with pointed stone and quoining about the entry doors, and windows. The stone walls taper up from the base to the curved concrete balcony element at 9.0 m in height. The remains of the concrete balcony encircle the stone base form. Sections that have collapsed are at the base of the lighthouse and the remains are cracked and structurally unstable. The footprint of the lighthouse is circular. The ground floor is concrete. The double opening at ground level is located on the south east side of the lighthouse. The interior walls have a render finish. The rusted remains of the central steel column which used to contain the descending weights and supported the spiral staircase, remains partially in place at the top, but is mostly collapsed on the floor of the lighthouse.

The lighthouse quarters are located 50 m west down a steep slope, on a levelled area. The roof, verandahs, floors, windows and doors are no longer in situ and most of the walls are only partly remaining. The east wall that remains mostly intact has been painted. The remains of the interior walls show a plaster finish, the excavated floor area indicates there was a timber floor. In the north wing there are the rusted remains of a stove within a fireplace. A further 20.0 m west of the quarters is the off-form concrete pad of what was likely a water tank. Westwards towards the coast, approximately 1 kilometre away across several dunes, located on Perth Hill, is the 1966 lighthouse.

Point Cloates Lighthouse is not unique in its dereliction. There are other examples of lighthouse towers in Australia that, after falling out of use and being abandoned by maritime authorities, are just shadows of their former glory. Some have been relocated to a more accessible place where they could be more easily cared for, while others vanished without a trace. Then there are cases like Point Cloates, Cape St. George (NSW) or Penguin Island (SA), where only a ruin remains where the lighthouse used to proudly stand, many decades ago.

Story and Photos - Denise Shultz.