Cape lighthouse secures top heritage listing

The lighthouse reflects a bygone era. Photo / Northern Advocate

Northland landmark Cape Brett lighthouse has been officially registered as a place of outstanding historical significance.

The Historic Places Trust category 1 listing recognises the site for the first time but does not give it automatic protection under the Resource Management Act.

That would occur once the Far North District Council considers the site under its district plan, said the trust's Northland manager, Stuart Park.

"The site is already protected by the Department of Conservation under the Reserves Act but increased, overlapping protection has merit."

District council spokesman Rick McCall said amendments and updates to the Historic Sites, Buildings and Objects Schedule would be included in a plan change in the next 12 months.

The registration also covers the surrounding area, including one of the still-surviving houses, which is presently serving as a Department of Conservation hut for trampers.

In 1906, it was thought the long stretch of coastline between Cape Van Diemen and Mokohinau Islands, which mark the northern approach to the Waitemata Harbour, needed another lighthouse. The Department of Transport chose Cape Brett as the site for this new, manned lighthouse.

An isolated settlement was established at Cape Brett in 1908 which included three identical houses for the lighthouse keepers and their families.

Their duties included sending daily weather reports to the Meteorological Office. "The Cape Brett lighthouse is a rarity in New Zealand in that it is the only lighthouse to have survived in the same place it was built, with the original equipment still substantially intact," Mr Park said.

"The building and its contents show the complete working of a lighthouse through the whole range of its active life, and as such is a time capsule in its own right."

When the lighthouse began operating in February 1910 it was unique in New Zealand because its lens moved in a mercury bath, which gave it a smoother movement. It was re-rigged in 1955 with a diesel-electric plant but was later connected to the national grid by a power line from Rawhiti.

The station's two keepers and their families used to receive their mail and stores once a fortnight by launch from Russell until 1978, when the station was converted to automatic operation.

"The Cape Brett lighthouse is one of those timeless buildings that are evocative of a different era and a way of life that has since disappeared," Mr Park said. "It is an important part of Northland's maritime heritage and is most deserving of its Category 1 status."

- NORTHERN ADVOCATE