Williamstown Timeball Tower

Not to be confused with the nearby Gellibrand pile light.

Williamstown Lighthouse

Timeball tower.
Location	Williamstown Victoria Australia
Coordinates	37°52′00.6″S 144°54′45.7″E
Tower
Constructed	1840 (first) 1849 (second) 1934 (third)
Construction	wooden tower (first) bluestone tower (second and third)
Automated	1934
Height	17 metres (56 ft)
Shape	quadrangular tower with timeball mast
Markings	unpainted tower
Power source	mains electricity
Operator	Parks Victoria
Heritage	listed on the Victorian Heritage Register
Light
Deactivated	1849 (first) 1859 (second) 1987 (third)
Focal height	22 metres (72 ft)
Range	15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi)
Characteristic	Fl GR 7.5s. (as lighthouse 1934-1987)
Victorian Heritage Register
Official name	Time Ball Tower
Type	State heritage
Designated	20 August 1982
Reference no.	H1649
Place ID	1222
Category	Transport – Water
Architect	Henry Ginn

The Williamstown Lighthouse more commonly known as the Williamstown Timeball Tower, is situated at Point Gellibrand, in the Melbourne suburb of Williamstown.

History

It was erected in 1852, with an unusual square form, and replaced earlier navigational aids established from the time of the first settlement in 1835. It is 17 metres high, and situated at an elevation of 22 metres. Built of local bluestone (basalt), it is the second-oldest lighthouse in Victoria after the one at Cape Otway.

The first lighthouse on the site was built in 1839–40. That timber structure was replaced with a square bluestone lighthouse tower, designed by Henry Ginn. The bluestone section has battered lower storeys, featuring rusticated masonry with smooth string courses, and had a castellated parapet with mast and spherical, copper-plate timeball above. The masonry was quarried and worked by prisoner labour. Four lamps were shining in May 1849, and a larger lamp was installed in August 1849.

The timeball apparatus operated until August 1926. A large copper ball encircled the central mast and rested at the bottom in a catcher cup of iron when not in use. Each afternoon, the ball was raised to the top of the mast and dropped at precisely one o'clock, to allow the captains of ships moored offshore to check the accuracy of their marine chronometers. The tower provided an additional time signal at eight o'clock each night by means of eclipsing the lantern of the lighthouse.

After the timeball ceased to operate, the apparatus was dismantled. In 1932, the tower was adapted for better use as a lighthouse. It was increased to a height of 98 feet (30 m) by the addition of a circular brick tower 30 feet (9 m) tall. The lighthouse operated in that fashion until 1987. In 1989, the circular brick tower was removed by the Williamstown Historical Society so that the square tower could be restored and the timeball apparatus reinstated.

See also

• List of lighthouses in Australia

References

• Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Australia: Victoria". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 24 July 2008.