Fort Canning Lighthouse
Encyclopedia
Fort Canning Lighthouse also known as Fort Canning Light is located on top of Fort Canning Hill
and was formerly one of the 13 important lighthouses in the Straits of Malacca. Located nearby with The Flagstaff and the Time Ball, the three navigation structures played an essential role during the early maritime history
of Singapore
.
established port here in 1819. The first communication facility built on the hill was a flagstaff. The flagstaff was used to display the arrival, identity, location and status of ships entering Singapore Harbour. This was followed by a time ball
, a lighthouse and a telegraph office in later years.
.
The light was created by a burner fuelled by kerosene, which generated 20,000 candlepower
and itself was dioptric occulting type. The light was "eclipsed" (darkened) every 17 seconds by lowering a metal cylinder around the burner for 3 seconds, thus giving rise to the term
"occulting type".
Though the Lighthouse survived the destruction of the Second World War, it was finally closed and dismantled on December 1958, when new tall buildings were making it invisible from the sea. It was replaced by a new signal light using electricity that was erected on top of the Fullerton Building. The Fullerton Light was itself taken down in 1979 and is now in the Maritime Museum of Singapore.
. Though its lights are fully functional, it no longer serves its original purpose but stands today as a legacy of its contribution to Singapore maritime history.
Fort Canning
Fort Canning is a small hill slightly more than 60 metres high in the southeast portion of the island city-state of Singapore, within the Central Area that forms Singapore's central business district...
and was formerly one of the 13 important lighthouses in the Straits of Malacca. Located nearby with The Flagstaff and the Time Ball, the three navigation structures played an essential role during the early maritime history
Maritime history
Maritime history is the study of human activity at sea. It covers a broad thematic element of history that often uses a global approach, although national and regional histories remain predominant...
of Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
.
History
Fort Canning Hill, with its strategic location overlooking the Singapore Harbour, was used as a communication centre after the BritishUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
established port here in 1819. The first communication facility built on the hill was a flagstaff. The flagstaff was used to display the arrival, identity, location and status of ships entering Singapore Harbour. This was followed by a time ball
Time ball
A time ball is a large painted wooden or metal ball that drops at a predetermined time, principally to enable sailors to check their marine chronometers from their boats offshore...
, a lighthouse and a telegraph office in later years.
Construction
Fort Canning Lighthouse was built on the southern side of Fort Canning Hill to guide ships safely towards the Singapore Harbour. The first signal light on Fort Canning was a simple lantern attached to the top of the Flagstaff in 1855. The Flagstaff light was replaced by the Lighthouse in 1903 by Riley, Hargreaves & Co., who in 1909 combined with another company to form United Engineers that is still present to this day at nearby River ValleyRiver Valley
River Valley is the name of an urban planning area within the Central Area, Singapore's central business district.The River Valley Planning Area is defined by the region bounded by Orchard Boulevard, Devonshire Road and Eber Road to the north, Oxley Rise and Mohamed Sultan Road to the east, Martin...
.
The light was created by a burner fuelled by kerosene, which generated 20,000 candlepower
Candlepower
Candlepower is a now-obsolete unit which was used to express levels of light intensity in terms of the light emitted by a candle of specific size and constituents...
and itself was dioptric occulting type. The light was "eclipsed" (darkened) every 17 seconds by lowering a metal cylinder around the burner for 3 seconds, thus giving rise to the term
"occulting type".
Though the Lighthouse survived the destruction of the Second World War, it was finally closed and dismantled on December 1958, when new tall buildings were making it invisible from the sea. It was replaced by a new signal light using electricity that was erected on top of the Fullerton Building. The Fullerton Light was itself taken down in 1979 and is now in the Maritime Museum of Singapore.
The Lighthouse today
Due to its historic significance, a replica of the Lighthouse was later erected near its original site by the government of SingaporeGovernment of Singapore
The Government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore to mean the Executive branch of government, which is made up of the President and the Cabinet of Singapore. Although the President acts in his personal discretion in the exercise of certain functions as a check...
. Though its lights are fully functional, it no longer serves its original purpose but stands today as a legacy of its contribution to Singapore maritime history.