Boulder Bank Lighthouse

Boulder Bank Lighthouse is a decommissioned 19th century lighthouse[1] located near the Port Nelson end of the Boulder Bank. It was New Zealand's second permanent lighthouse.[2]

Boulder Bank Lighthouse
The lighthouse in 2004
Boulder Bank Lighthouse
LocationBoulder Bank, Nelson Region, Nelson City Council, Nelson, New Zealand
Coordinates41°15′17.3″S 173°15′54.7″E
Automated1915 
Deactivated1982 
Tower height18 metre 
HeritageNZHPT Category I listing 

Prior to its construction, the Nelson harbour entrance, with its four-metre tidal range and narrow curved channel, was a trap to unwary ship's captains.[3] The octagonal cast-iron tower was manufactured in sections by Stothert & Pitt an engineering firm from Bath, England in 1859 at a cost of £2,824 (equivalent to £284,957 as of 2019).[4] It was then shipped to New Zealand on board the Glenshee, and was erected in 1862.[5]

It is registered with Heritage New Zealand as a category I structure with registration number 41.[5]

The lighthouse was lit for 120 years, from 1862 until 1982. It was given a fresh coat of white paint in October 2018.[6] Its perch on the natural breakwater makes it popular with tourists.[2] Today, it stands alone, but was not always so. When it was manned by lighthouse keepers, a number of homes, other buildings and radio mast clustered around its base.[3]

See also

References
  1. Phillips, Mark (2005). "New Zealand Lighthouses". Archived from the original on 5 October 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2007.
  2. Jones, Frederick Nelson; Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Nelson lighthouse". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  3. "Nelson Lighthouses, in Nelson Historical Society Journal, Volume 2, Issue 5, November 1971". nzetc.victoria.ac.nz. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  4. UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  5. "Boulder Bank Lighthouse". Heritage New Zealand registry of historic places. 23 June 1983. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  6. "Port Nelson lighthouse gets a new lick of paint". Nelson Mail. Retrieved 26 June 2019.

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