Lighthouse - Milnerton

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Completed: 1960

Engineer: SA Railways & Harbours

Top of lighthouse. (Source: City of Cape Town)

Photo after a storm in July 2018. (Source: Le Roux, M. et al)


(Photo: Bruce Sutherland, CCT)

Photo, 2012. (Source: A3alb on Wikimedia Commons)

"On 16 January 1647, a fleet of three ships, the 500 tonne Haarlem, the 1000 tonne Witte Olifant and the 800 tonne Schiedam, under the command of Vice-Commander Reinier van ‘t Zuim (aboard the Witte Olifant) left Batavia, for the return journey to the Netherlands Republic.13 On 25 March 1647, the ships called and anchored at Table Bay, between Robben Island and the mainland, when a strong south-easterly gale sprang up and the Haarlem, with 120 people aboard, was driven ashore and stranded near the present Milnerton Beach." (Master, 2012)

"When provision was made in the Railways & Harbours Estimates for 1956 for a new, automatically-operated installation on the beach, Milnerton Estates protested that this would interfere with local amenities, but found itself overruled." (Rosenthal, 1980)

"The lighthouse at Milnerton, Cape, will soon be one of the most fully automatic beacons on the South African coast. Work was commenced last October (1957) on the 70-feet reinforced concrete tower with a lantern with an internal diameter of 7 feet 1 inch and a main revolving optic of 250 mm focal distance. The new lighthouse is expected to be completed by the middle of 1959. The estimated cost of the tower is £7,700 and the cost of the optical standby equipment, is £8,000.

The lighthouse will normally operate from the Municipal electricity supply system, but in the event of a disruption in the service, an air-cooled diesel alternator set will automatically provide the necessary current.

No resident staff will be attached to this lighthouse and there will be a visible alarm system of three coloured lamps which will be mounted near the top of the tower, beaming in the direction of the signal station in Table Bay Harbour, to communicate the conditions at the lighthouse to the staff responsible for its operation and maintenance. Three coloured lamps - red, green and white - will denote “intruder and fire alarm”, “non-urgent alarm” and “urgent alarm” respectively.

The establishment of this navigational aid together with Robben Island and Green Point lighthouses will materially assist mariners in the approaches to Table Bay.

Two similar installations are in operation on the Natal Coast, viz. Cooper Light and Umhlanga Rocks and have been functioning most satisfactorily for five years. Thorn Bay (West Coast), Yzervark Point (South East Coast), Cape Morgan (East Coast) and Hangklip (between Hermanus and Gordons Bay) are under consideration." (SARN, 1958)

"A new lighthouse is at present being built at Milnerton, near Cape Town, at an estimated cost of £18,000, and a further five similar lighthouses will be completed in the near future at various points along the Cape coastline: Panther Huk (between Port Nolloth and Lüderitz), Thorn Bay (near Olifants River mouth), Cape Hangklip (between Cape Point and Danger Point), Yzervark Point (30 miles South West of Mossel Bay), Cape Morgan (between East London and Bashee Mouth)." (SARN, 1959)

Locality map

Sources

  • South African Railway News. Dec 1958.
  • History of Milnerton. 1980. Rosenthal, E.
  • The first stratigraphic column in South Africa, from Hondius (1652), and its modern correlatives. 2012. Master, S.
  • One step forward to take one back: “coastal retreat” in a phased approach at Milnerton Beachfront. 2023. Le Roux, M. et al.
  • South African Railway News. March 1959.

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