Low Head Lighthouse

Low Head Lighthouse is in Low Head, Tasmania, about 7 kilometres north of George Town on the east side of the mouth of the Tamar River. It was the third lighthouse to be constructed in Australia, and it is also Australia's oldest continuously used pilot station. This light is now unmanned and automated.
Several serious shipping accidents occurred near the mouth of the Tamar River early in the history of George Town. The first and most infamous of these occurred on 15th June 1808, when the Hebe struck a reef between Low Head and Western Head at the entrance to Port Dalrymple. The ship was wrecked on the rocks at the mouth to the Tamar River, which have since that day carried the name Hebe Reef. Responding to this ongoing threat to shipping, the local Committee of Pilotage recommended in 1826 that a lightstation should be built at Low Head.
Australia's first lighthouse, Macquarie Lighthouse in Vaucluse, New South Wales was lit in 1793. Australia's second lighthouse, Iron Pot Lighthouse at the entrance to the River Derwent was lit in 1832. Low Head Lighthouse, constructed by convict labor and first lit on 27th December 1833, became Tasmania's second and only the third one to be built in Australia.
The presence of Low Head Lighthouse has undoubtedly prevented numerous shipping accidents since its first operation in 1833, but by no means all of them. Since the loss of the Hebe in 1808, nine more vessels have been lost on Hebe Reef. The most recent was MV Iron Baron, chartered by BHP Shipping. On 10th July 1995, nearing the end of a voyage from Groote Eylandt with a load of manganese ore, MV Iron Baron ran aground on Hebe Reef. All crew were safely evacuated but the accident resulted in the worst oil spill in Australian history.
The original tower, 15.25 metres high, was known as the Georgetown Station. Designed by Colonial Architect John Lee Archer, who was responsible for the design of many other Tasmanian lights, it was constructed of local rubble with a coat of stucco to make the structure durable. By the 1880s, the original stone tower had fallen into a state of disrepair. It was demolished in 1888 and replaced with the present double brick structure with a new lantern room and apparatus, designed by Marine Board architect Robert Huckson.
Low Head Lighthouse was staffed by a superintendent and two convict assistants who were locked in their quarters overnight. Low Head Lighthouse was the only Tasmanian lighthouse to be built with attached quarters.
Tasmania's only foghorn (also manufactured by Chance Brothers) is a Type G diaphone that was installed in April 1929 at Low Head Lighthouse. The foghorn was operated by the lighthouse keepers during foggy conditions for more than forty years.
One of the largest diaphones ever constructed, the foghorn was decommissioned in 1973 because of technological advances in marine navigational equipment. The device fell into disrepair over the next few decades. Early in 2000, the Low Head Progress & Heritage Association in conjunction with the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service (the present owners of the equipment) began a project to restore the foghorn. The device became operational again in April 2001. Today, the foghorn at Low Head Lighthouse is one of only two functioning Type G diaphones in the world, and it is sounded every Sunday at noon.