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Lighthouse, Great Fish Point
Port Alfred district, Eastern Cape

McALLISTER, MURRAY and ROSS: Contractor

Date:1898
Type:Lighthouse
Status:Extant

 


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Coordinates:
33°31'10.45" S 27°06'21.19" E

An octagonal tower nine metres high.

Wording on the Centenary Plaque:

GREAT FISH POINT LIGHTHOUSE
1 JULY 1898 - 1 JULY 1998
THE CENTENARY OF THIS LIGHTHOUSE
WAS COMMEMORATED BY A
"REKINDLING OF THE LIGHT"
CEREMONY ON 11 JULY 1998
THE CEREMONY WAS PERFORMED BY
MR. R.W. CHILDS,
MANAGING DIRECTOR, PORTNET, WHO
DEDICATED THE LIGHTHOUSE FOR A
FURTHER ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SERVICE
TO MARINERS FOR THE SAFETY OF SHIPPING
ON THE SOUTH AFRICAN COAST.

____________________

Article Kowie Bugle, [Port Alfred], March 2012.

Erected only after much delay, its light was first lit on the 1st of July 1898. Placed at the mouth of the Great Fish River in Great Fish Point, 25km from the holiday haven of Port Alfred, this nautical note keeps Indian Ocean faring cargo and carriers traveling off the east coast at suitable contouring distance.

For the safety of shipping on the South African coast, a revolving electric light flashes from this source to mariners once every ten seconds. Built 800 meters from the shoreline and standing 75 metes above sea level, its warning light strength of 5 000 000 Candelas can be detected at a focal plane height of 85 meters above the high water mark as a result of its location elevation. Two black vertical stripes flank the broad centre white stripe of this lighthouse, whose tuxedo like appearance substitutes a red roof light cap and matching railings for a red bow tie and matching cufflinks.

According to the Lighthouse Directory navigational beacons need to meet the requirements of standing at least 4 meters tall with a minimum surface area of a 4 square meter footprint in order to be classed as an active lighthouse. The Great Fish Point Lighthouse meets these standards as well as housing an authentic black spiral staircase in the building chamber and demarcating its territory with a white boundary wall proudly hanging black lettering reading 'Great Fish Point Lighthouse 1898'. An active lighthouse of authenticity.

(Submitted by Dorothy Adendorff, August 2025)


References:

Hoberman, Gerald. 2011. Lighthouses of South Africa : pocket edition. Cape Town - London - New York: The Gerald & Marc Hoberman Collection. pg 104-107
Williams, Harold. 1993. Southern Lights : Lighthouses of Southern Africa. Cape Town: William Waterman Publications. pg 86-88