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CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION
1140 LIGHTHOUSE ROAD CAPE OTWAY, COLAC OTWAY SHIRE

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Victorian Heritage Register
CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION SOHE 2008
CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION SOHE 2008
CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION SOHE 2008
CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION SOHE 2008
CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION SOHE 2008
CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION SOHE 2008
CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION SOHE 2008
CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION SOHE 2008
CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION SOHE 2008
CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION SOHE 2008
CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION SOHE 2008
CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION SOHE 2008
CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION SOHE 2008
CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION SOHE 2008
CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION SOHE 2008
CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION SOHE 2008
CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION SOHE 2008
CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION SOHE 2008
CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION SOHE 2008
CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION SOHE 2008
CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION SOHE 2008
CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION SOHE 2008
CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION SOHE 2008
1 cape otway lightstation light house
cape otway lightstation front view nov1997
cape otway lightstation residence aug1996
cape otway lightstation signal atation front view aug1996
cape otway lightstation signal station rear view aug1996
h01222 plan
H1222 CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION LHA 2015 1.JPG
H1222 CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION LHA 2015 2.JPG
H1222 CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION LHA 2015 3.JPG
H1222 CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION LHA 2015 4.JPG
H1222 CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION LHA 2015 5.JPG
H1222 CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION LHA 2015 6.JPG
H1222 CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION LHA 2015 7.JPG
H1222 CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION LHA 2015 8.JPG
On this page:

Statement of Significance

What is significant?

The Cape Otway Lightstation was constructed in 1846-48 following the recommendation of the 1845 New South Wales Select Committee on Lighthouses in response to a number of shipping disasters in Bass Strait. The site was personally selected by Superintendent Charles Joseph La Trobe and the lighthouse was designed by NSW government architect Mortimer Lewis. The lighthouse was built of nearby Parker River sandstone and was altered to accommodate a Chance Bros lantern in 1891. The stone keepers' quarters date from 1857-58, probably to the design of Victorian Public Works Department architect Charles Maplestone, and replace an earlier structure. The two roomed assistant keepers' quarters of c.1848 were later incorporated into the store and workshop building. The signal station was built in 1859 and was a link in the first telegraph connection across Bass Strait. Most of the early buildings, with the exception of the signal station, are in very good condition and have had only slight alteration. The lighthouse no longer operates but retains all its equipment. Also related to the site are a cemetery and the ruinous remains of some Second World War military buildings.

How is it significant?

Cape Otway Lightstation is of historical, architectural and social importance to the State of Victoria.

Why is it significant?

Cape Otway Lightstation is historically important because the lighthouse is the oldest surviving lighthouse on the Australian mainland. The lightstation has, since 1848, been a crucially important link in the national system of navigation aids which began with the Macquarie light in 1819. It is also historically important as the usual Australian landfall for ships coming from Europe. The signal station is important for its key role in the relaying of news from Europe to Melbourne before the construction of the overland telegraph.

Cape Otway Lightstation is architecturally important as a grouping early lighthouse buildings. The lighthouse is important as a rare Victorian example of the work of NSW government architect Mortimer Lewis. The keepers' quarters are important as an intact group of lightstation residences and for their associations with Charles Maplestone who designed the similar and contemporary quarters at Cape Schanck, Wilsons Promontory and Gabo Island and which together form the best series of lightstation residences in Victoria. The signal station is important as a fine and rare example of a building type.

Cape Otway Lightstation is socially important as a manifestation of the remote yet responsible lifestyle of the lighthouse keepers and their families. The lightstation was a crucially important outpost which provided a dependable link to the outside world for mariners and the surrounding community. The cemetery, in which are interred the remains of both lightkeepers and their families and victims of marine accidents is an important manifestation of the former isolation of the site.

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    • Permit Exemptions

      CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION - Permit Exemptions

      General Exemptions:

      General exemptions apply to all places and objects included in the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR). General exemptions have been designed to allow everyday activities, maintenance and changes to your property, which don’t harm its cultural heritage significance, to proceed without the need to obtain approvals under the Heritage Act 2017.

      Places of worship: In some circumstances, you can alter a place of worship to accommodate religious practices without a permit, but you must notify the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria before you start the works or activities at least 20 business days before the works or activities are to commence.

      Subdivision/consolidation: Permit exemptions exist for some subdivisions and consolidations. If the subdivision or consolidation is in accordance with a planning permit granted under Part 4 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 and the application for the planning permit was referred to the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria as a determining referral authority, a permit is not required.

      Specific exemptions may also apply to your registered place or object. If applicable, these are listed below. Specific exemptions are tailored to the conservation and management needs of an individual registered place or object and set out works and activities that are exempt from the requirements of a permit. Specific exemptions prevail if they conflict with general exemptions.

      Find out more about heritage permit exemptions here.

      Specific Exemptions:

      General Conditions:
      1. All exempted alterations are to be planned and carried out in a manner which prevents damage to the fabric of the registered place or object.
      2. Should it become apparent during further inspection or the carrying out of alterations that original or previously hidden or inaccessible details of the place or object are revealed which relate to the significance of the place or object, then the exemption covering such alteration shall cease and the Executive Director shall be notified as soon as possible.
      3. If there is a conservation policy and plan approved by the Executive Director, all works shall be in accordance with it.
      4. Nothing in this declaration prevents the Executive Director from amending or rescinding all or any of the permit exemptions.
      Nothing in this declaration exempts owners or their agents from the responsibility to seek relevant planning or building permits from the responsible authority where applicable.

      No permits are required for works which are in accord with the conservation management plan prepared by Clive Lucas, Stapleton and Partners Pty Ltd for Australian Maritime Safety Authority in May 1994 (as amended by Ivar Nelsen in August 1996).

      Permit Exemption Policy

      CAPE OTWAY LIGHTSTATION - Permit Exemption Policy

      Lightstations are special places with a special ambience. While they have great appeal for visitation and high tourist potential, overdevelopment is highly undesirable and should be avoided. Conservation plans have been developed for most lightstations which give guidance for the physical treatment of buildings and features. Within the constraints inherent in managing what are fairly delicate places, there remain opportunities to enhance the physical fabric by appropriate conservation works and to retrieve former bad practice.

Public contributions

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