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Crowdy Head Lighthouse
The Crowdy Head Lighthouse is one of five similar NSW lights designed by Colonial architect James Barnett who held this role for 25 years from 1865 to 1890. Crowdy Head was established to serve the entrance to the Manning River.History
A pilot station was established in 1860 at nearby Harrington to assist ships navigating the entrance of the Manning River with cargoes of timber, livestock and limestone.In 1878, a fixed 4th order catadioptric light was erected on Crowdy Head. The light exhibited white (1,000 candelas) with a red (250 candelas) sector through a 16 deg arc over Mermaid Reef through to Indian Head, 201 deg to 217 deg. The red sector remains in place.
The Crowdy Head tower was made of stone and painted white. It was originally manned by one lightkeeper. The original light source was a two wick burner. The light had a range of 12 nautical miles in the white sector with red visible for 6 nautical miles in clear weather.
In 1928 the apparatus was converted to automatic acetylene operation providing 1500 candelas and the keeper withdrawn. The light was converted to mains electricity in June 1972. Conversion to a LED light source was completed in early 2021 with the replacement of the VRB-25 rotating beacon with a fixed high intensity LED beacon. The fixed beacon allowed the removal of the parasitic suppression screens evident in the lantern which was designed originally as a fixed lantern by Chance Brothers. Out of the four similar NSW lights remaining Richmond River is the only light to retain its original Chance Bros optic.
The decline of the coastal shipping industry saw the closure of the pilot station in the 1960s.
