I am a

Commercial Operators

Seafarers

Recreational boaties

Surveyors and third parties

Castle Point

Castle Point 1

Lighthouse overview 

Castle Point Lighthouse is on the Wairarapa Coast, about 70 kilometres east of Masterton. Close to the Castle Point settlement, it was known as the “holiday light”. 

Castle Point light was one of the last manned lights to be established in New Zealand.

 

Lighthouse feature: 

Details 

Location: 

latitude 40°54’ south, longitude 176°14’ east 

Elevation: 

52 metres above sea level 

Construction: 

cast iron tower 

Tower height: 

23 metres 

Light configuration: 

2nd order Fresnel lens, illuminated by a 1000-watt incandescent bulb 

Light flash character: 

white light flashing 3 times every 30 seconds 

Power source: 

mains electricity 

Range: 

19 nautical miles (35 kilometres) 

Date light first lit: 

1913 

Automated: 

1988 

Demanned: 

1988 

  

Visit Castle Point Lighthouse 

Castle Point Lighthouse station is accessible to the public. The lighthouse is not open to visitors. The station can be reached on foot from the Castle Point Scenic Reserve. 

There is no public access to enter the lighthouse

Find Castle Point Lighthouse on the map (opens in new tab)

History of Castle Point 

Early days 

Because it was built on a prominent cliff, Captain Cook observed that Castle Point looked like an “old medieval stronghold”. 

Lighthouse construction 

The cast iron tower was manufactured at Luke’s foundry in Wellington. 

 

Castle Point Lighthouse centenary 

Epoxy urethane coating system applied 

Lighthouse fully automated and the lighthouse keeper withdrawn 

Optic roller bearing replaced with slew ring 

Number of lighthouse keepers reduced from two to one 

Lighthouse connected to mains electricity 

Electric turning motors and lamp installed, 230 volts from diesel generator 

Foundation bolts tightened after the tower shakes in a storm 

Optic mercury bearing and float replaced with roller bearing 

Earthquakes caused the optic bearing and float to spill mercury 

Lantern room cleaning path installed (this was missing from original tower) 

Number of lighthouse keepers reduced from three to two 

Lighthouse accident, with Principal keeper Duncan falling to his death from a ladder while fixing the telephone line 

Signal station with telegraph connected 

Light first lit and operational (total cost £9,703) 

Incandescent apparatus supplied by Chance Bros (Birmingham) 

Optic turning apparatus supplied by James Milne and Son (Edinburgh) 

Optic supplied by Barbier, Bernard and Turenne (Paris) 

Tower cast at Lukes & Co Wellington (tower cost £1,375)