Bean Rock Lighthouse has kept seafarers safe in the Waitematā Harbour for more than 150 years. It's the only remaining wave-washed, wooden cottage-style lighthouse in Aotearoa and has served as an iconic maritime landmark for generations of Tāmaki Makaurau residents and visitors.
21 July 2022
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In the beginning...
In 1868 gold was discovered on the Coromandel Peninsula. As this was quartz gold and not alluvial, its extraction required heavy machinery. Most of it was shipped from Auckland. The shipping and mercantile community requested that the Auckland Provincial Assembly erect lights between Auckland and Thames to handle the increase in night traffic. Hence Bean Rock.
The Colonial Marine Engineer James Balfour designed the lighting apparatus and lantern. After he drowned in 1869, James Stewart, district engineer for the Public Works Department in Auckland, took over.
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As the rocks were constantly washed by waves, the foundations had to be secure and the lighthouse also had to handle heavy weather. It took eight months to build, and was a relatively hairy exercise for the builder William Cameron and his crew.
Carousel slide 1 imageNew Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa
The design
James Stewart went for a hexagonal design, based on a beehive. Three horizontal wooden platforms sat on concrete floors. The guttering of the galvanised iron roof projected outward to form a verandah around all eight sides. Inside, there was a living room, a bedroom, and storerooms. A 400-gallon tank held fresh water. There was also a toilet, flushed with sea water. The structure was held up by seven castiron pillars, driven deep into rock, and placed in concrete foundations. Stewart’s method of concreting was reported as ingenious, and a first in the southern hemisphere.
The fuel
In 1871 the light was powered by a kerosene lamp of 350 candlepower. It was converted to solar power in the 1990s.
High maintenance
In 1871, Bean Rock Lighthouse was equipped with the following:
As well, each of the Bean Rock’s three lamps came with four hand brushes or dusters, two dust shovels, and six scrubbing brushes.
Renovations
In 1985 the cottage, with its four diminutive rooms and narrow hexagonal verandah was removed for restoration work. The base’s rotted kauri legs were replaced by Australian hardwood jarrah, and sunk in new concrete foundations. The cottage was winched back into place.
Carousel slide 1 imageNew Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa
Ideas that went nowhere
In 1920 it was proposed that the lighthouse be turned into a war memorial. In the 1970s it was proposed that it be replaced with a new ‘futuristic’ design.
What’s unusual?
Bean Rock is now the only remaining wavewashed, wooden-cottage lighthouse in the country. It is protected by the Historic Places Act. And, it was the first lighthouse to be demanned and automated in 1912.
Further reading