Qualla: Point Charles Light

Point Charles Light: Introduction

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit State Government Photographer, CC0. In 1891, a lighthouse arrived in Australia in pieces. Packed into crates in Birmingham by Chance Bros — one of England's great lighthouse manufacturers — it was shipped to Adelaide, then forwarded aboard the SS Inaminka to Port Darwin, then transferred to the SS Airie for the short coastal voyage to Point Charles. When workers began unpacking it, they found the ironwork badly rusted from the long journey. Construction was delayed. On 1 February 1893, Charles James Dashwood, the Government Resident of the Northern Territory, formally opened the lighthouse that now bears the point's name.

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Image: State Government Photographer | CC0

Point Charles Light: Why a Lighthouse Was Needed

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Point_Charles_Light_historic.JPG: unknown derivative work: Muhandes (talk), Public domain. Ships were being wrecked in the approaches to Port Darwin throughout the 1880s. The Marine Board surveyed the situation in 1888 and recommended lights at Capes Fourcroy and Don and at Points Emery and Charles. Funding came through a loan, and the contract for the Point Charles li...

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Image: Point_Charles_Light_historic.JPG: unknown derivative work: Muhandes (talk) | Public domain

Point Charles Light: Light and Technology

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Bryson Lashbrook, CC BY 3.0. The original lantern housed a revolving first-order dioptric lens, powered by a vapourised kerosene burner producing 100,000 candela. The light characteristic — one white flash every 30 seconds, with red and green sectors — was visible for 17 nautical miles, which meant ships app...

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Image: Bryson Lashbrook | CC BY 3.0

Point Charles Light: Cyclone Tracy and the Comeback

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit File:CharlesPointLightHouse.jpg: Djambalawa derivative work: Muhandes (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0. Cyclone Tracy devastated Darwin on Christmas Eve 1974. It destroyed or damaged a large portion of the city, killing 66 people and levelling thousands of buildings. At Point Charles, the Radio Australia broadcast masts were extensively damaged. The lighthouse, however, survived al...

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Image: File:CharlesPointLightHouse.jpg: Djambalawa derivative work: Muhandes (talk) | CC BY-SA 3.0

Point Charles Light: A Complicated Approach

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit State Government Photographer, CC0. Access to the lighthouse has been contentious. The Radio Australia facility at Point Charles closed in July 1997. Its buildings were subsequently leased to the Christian Voice Broadcasting Service, which fenced the area in 2003 and prevented public access to the lighthouse entire...

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Image: State Government Photographer | CC0