There is a plaque attached to this iconic tower "Historical Point No. 19", which reads:
"LEADING LIGHT TOWER
A Light Tower for navigational purposes was erected on this site in 18665-66, and another near Perkin Street 228 feet away. Both lights were commissioned on 1 May, 1866. This tower was rebuilt in 1877 after the light had been obscured by erection of a Weslyan parsonage below. Alterations to the bearings of the entrance channel led to commissioning of new lights in steel towers on other sites on 1 June 1918.
"The Newcastle City Council maintains this tower by agreement with the Trustees of the Church of England property on which it is partly situated.
[Search by: Newcastle and Hunter District Historical Society]"
From the City of Newcastle Heritage website: (
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"From the mid-19th century the two lights, when aligned to each other, were expected to provide a dead reckoning navigational aid for ships entering the harbour. The sister tower, located lower down the hill in Perkins St, has long since disappeared.
"Both towers were originally identical except for colour. The front tower, in Perkins St. was painted white with a red light; the Brown St. tower was red with a white light. Because of the difference in their building elevations the towers and their lights appeared one above the other when seen from the sea outside the port.
"The first stone bricks of the lead light towers were laid on November 21 and 23, 1865, by Miss Lewis, the daughter of Mr Miles Lewis, the government architect for Newcastle, and Miss Allan, daughter of Captain Allan, the harbour master. Captain Allan's house still stands at 19 Barker Street The Hill, and is a listed heritage building."
"It was soon apparent to the harbour authorities that the towers had two serious faults. They were too low, especially the one in Brown St, and spaced too close together.
The later construction of a two storey Wesleyan parsonage in Perkins St obstructed the Brown St tower. This forced the Government to extend the small tower by adding further height. The improved tower began operating in early 1877.
"The foundations of the existing tower are made up of seven courses of solid masonry which reach about a metre wide.
"Alterations to the bearings of the entrance channel led to the commissioning of new lights in steel towers elsewhere in June 1918. These were then replaced in the 1980's by the existing lead light towers at Queens Wharf, Foreshore Park east, and at 'The Boltons' house group, just off Church Street."
From the ABC: (
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"After the loss of a number of ships on the notorious Oyster Bank, the lights became known by mariners as the 'misleading lights'. Navigators argued that the towers were too close together so the margin of error was around 200 feet. In a big sea, that 200 feet could be crucial. In 1917 the government put in new towers in Church Street and the harbour foreshore where they remain to this day but they've been moved around and are now modern structures." said Sarah.
"Built in 1865, the Cawarra disaster happened just the year after the foundation stones for the Leading Light Towers were laid: "Yes, this tower was originally only seven metres tall. It was ineffective once the parsonage was built down on Tyrrell Street and obscured the view of this top tower from the heads. So James Barnet, who was the colonial architect of the time, rebuilt it on the same base but extended it to 20 metres."
"Barnet was the government architect of the day and he'd have had a team working for him. He was responsible for many of the great buildings in NSW including Sydney's Customs House, Darlinghurst Courthouse and the Australian Museum. Sarah adds, "You can see his trademark in this tower in that it looks like a castle or chess piece. It's quite whimsical and fitting for New-Castle! Architecturally it is quite a folly, you have to wonder why anyone would bother."
"The tower used to have a roof over it and a burner in the bottom of the tower which was lit at night so that when ships were entering the heads at night the slot windows would illuminate from within."
"The doorway to the tower has now been sealed so any maintenance by council engineers has to be done via a cherry picker, but the harbour master was responsible for ensuring that the towers were lit, and stayed lit."