Fort Denison Light, also known as Pinchgut Light, is an active lighthouse

Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

 located on top of a Martello Tower

Martello tower

Martello towers are small defensive forts built in several countries of the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the Napoleonic Wars onwards....

 at Fort Denison, a former penal site and defensive facility occupying a small island in Sydney Harbour, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. The island is located downstream from the Harbour Bridge

Sydney Harbour Bridge

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district and the North Shore. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic...

 near Potts Point

Potts Point, New South Wales

Potts Point is a small, densely-populated suburb of inner-city Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Potts Point is located 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney....

 and the Royal Botanic Gardens

Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney

The Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, Australia, are the most central of the three major botanical gardens open to the public in Sydney....

. The fort is also known as "Pinchgut" lending its name to the light.

History

The lantern and light, built in Birmingham, England, were added on top of the Martello Tower

Martello tower

Martello towers are small defensive forts built in several countries of the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the Napoleonic Wars onwards....

 in 1913, replacing an 8 inches (20.3 cm) gun. The original light source was an acetylene gas carbide lamp

Carbide lamp

Carbide lamps, properly known as acetylene gas lamps, are simple lamps that produce and burn acetylene which is created by the reaction of calcium carbide with water....

, and it was converted to electricity by 1926. The station also includes a tide gauge, established in the mid-19th century, navigation channel markers, and a fog bell.

Renovation

On 30 October 2003 the entire lightroom structure was removed for renovation. As the National Parks and Wildlife Service

National Parks and Wildlife Service (New South Wales)

The National Parks and Wildlife Service is part of the Office of Environment and Heritage - the main government conservation agency in New South Wales, Australia....

 curator Stephen Thompson said an airlift was the safest way, the lantern was transported to shore by a helicopter in a sling. Renovation took place at a workshop in the nearby St Peters

St Peters, New South Wales

St Peters is a suburb in the inner west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. St Peters is located 7 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Marrickville Council.-History:...

. The entire operation was coordinated by National Parks, the Sydney Ports corporation and Australian Defence Industries

Australian Defence Industries

Thales Australia is a primary defence contractor for the Australian Defence Force. Thales Australia is best known for its naval ship repair operations, and currently leases the Captain Cook graving dock at Garden Island Naval Base in Sydney, New South Wales and also leases and occupies many of the...

.

For the renovation the structure was disassembled, paint was removed and new steel patches were welded onto corroded areas. A replica base ring was fabricated and hot rivet

Rivet

A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite the head is called the buck-tail. On installation the rivet is placed in a punched or pre-drilled hole, and the tail is upset, or bucked A rivet...

ed into place. The surface was then painted and treated against corrosion.

On 20 May 2004 the lantern was returned by helicopter and reinstalled.

Site operation

The light is managed by the Sydney Ports corporation. The site is managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service

National Parks and Wildlife Service (New South Wales)

The National Parks and Wildlife Service is part of the Office of Environment and Heritage - the main government conservation agency in New South Wales, Australia....

 in the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water since 1992, as part of the Sydney Harbour National Park

Sydney Harbour National Park

thumb|right|250px|[[Nielsen Park]]Sydney Harbour National Park is a national park comprising parts of Sydney Harbour, its foreshores and various islands. The park lies within the Sydney metropolitan area and was created in piecemeal fashion during the 20th century...

.

Visiting

The island is accessible by boat. It is open for guided tours for a fee, requiring reservation. The tower is now open to the public.

See also

• List of lighthouses and lightvessels in Australia