Page 8 - Sooke Elementary School - Division 3
P. 8

Exploring the Lighthouse



            ...A Brief History of the Lighthouse



                                                                                                        Following construction of the fog alarm building - ca 1926

            that could be seen up to 25 km away.  The lens rotated through a clock-
            work mechanism of pulleys and weights – each about 180 kg – that had to
            be re-wound every three hours.  Because of the size and weight of the lens,
            it was seated in a bed of liquid mercury, to allow it to turn without much
            friction.


            In 1925, a fog-alarm building was added to the site, and a new “diaphone”
            (two-tone) fog-horn was installed.  Originally a wooden, peaked-roof
            building, constructed in front of the tower, this building was replaced in
            1976 with the concrete block building that is still on site.  The diesel en-
            gines that provided power for the site were also located in this building.

            A number of other structures were added to the site over the years, includ-                        Following construction of the boat house - 1912
            ing radio towers and sheds, a fallout shelter (that was actually never used
            as such, but was used to grow mushrooms), other utility buildings and, in
            1964, a new, more modern house for the Lightkeeper.


            During the 1980s, the Lighthouse was automated and it was finally de-
            staffed in 1989 when the last lightkeeper left.  Except for the tower and
            the engine room (fog-alarm building), all the other structures on site were
            taken down, or deliberately burned, to avoid vandalism.


            Left largely unattended for the next thirty years, the Lighthouse began
            to deteriorate and was in danger of being lost forever.  Then, after many
            years of lobbying by the local community, in 2015, it was transferred to the
            Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society, and it is now being
            restored to its original glory.



                  Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society                                                                           Page 8
   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13