Napier Bluff (1873)
In 1854, Alfred Domett suggested that the port town he was surveying be named Napier after Sir Charles Napier. When he laid out the first town plan of Napier, he named the town's principal roads, streets and a square after the most prominent men in British Indian history. At the time, he also suggested that a lighthouse be built on a reserve on Bluff Hill which overlooks Napier.
Later during a lighthouse survey, John Blackett, Marine Engineer and Captain Robert Johnson, Nautical Advisor selected Napier as a site for a coastal lighthouse. It would be the first lighthouse to be erected on the east coast of the North Island. Originally the lighthouse was to have been sited on Lighthouse Road at the top of Bluff Hill in the reserve set aside by the Hawkes Bay Provincial Council, but instead the light was mounted on the local goal on Coote Road across the gully in the Goal Reserve.
The light was first lit on 5 January 1873 and displayed a fixed white light. The light was powered by the town gas supply (the first in the country to do so) and the first keepers were actually the prison wardens.
In 1915 the lighthouse status was changed to a harbour light and administration duties were taken over by the Napier Harbour Board. The light was also changed from a fixed white light to an occulting white light.
By the late 1930's, the lighthouse was barely visible amongst the lights of Napier city and the Harbour Board proposed moving the light up to the originally proposed site in the reserve on Lighthouse Road. However during World War II, the light was extinguished so nothing was done. After the war, in 1945 another proposal was made to move the light to Cape Kidnappers or again, up to the reserve. But before anything could be done, improvements were made to the west-shore beacons in the harbour and Napier lighthouse was decommissioned.
In 1948 the lighthouse was demolished by the prison authorities.
If anyone has any information on this light please contact me. kiwimark@comcast.net
DIRECTIONS:
Removed from site.
| Island | North |
| Province | Hawkes Bay |
| Location | Napier |
| Number | |
| Date Commissioned | January 5, 1873 |
| Date Decommissioned | 1948 or June 1951 |
| Automated | |
| Latitude | |
| Longitude | |
| Elevation Above Sea Level | |
| Height | 20 ft |
| Character | |
| Range | |
| Made | |
| Construction | Wooden |
| Converted Kerosene To Diesel | |
| Converted Diesel To Mains Electricity | |
| Wattage | |
| Present Tower | Demolished |
| Date Visited |
| Head Keeper | From | To |
| Assistant Keeper (1st) | From | To |
Text and photographs. Copyright © 1999-2005 Mark Phillips. All rights reserved.