Gap Rock Lighthouse [1892- ] | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Gap Rock Lighthouse [1892- ]

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Submitted by David on Wed, 2011-10-05 18:21
Current condition: 
In use
Date Place completed: 
1892-04-01

(Switch to the satellite view - click here - to get a better view of the lighthouse.)

There is some background on the lighthouse in the comments to this photo on Flickr.

The document "Hong Kong's Lighthouses and the men who manned them" says the light first shone in April 1892, and continued in use until the Japanese invasion in 1941.

Tags: 
lighthouse
Navigational beacon
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Photos that show this place

1897
1914
1920
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Comments

Submitted by tngan on Thu, 2011-10-06 17:05.

Hi there,

Just tried Google Earth on this and found somebody had posted some photos last February.

The dome of the light tower looked new, but the granite structure looked weathered down quite a bit.  Were light houses always built like a fort like this one?  There are port holes all over the structures and the satallite structures.

Best Regards,

T

Submitted by David on Fri, 2011-10-07 10:33.

Hi T, thanks for finding a current photo of the lighthouse. It's still standing, so I've removed the 'date demolished' for this Place.

Yes, they were built with small windows to help withstand the severe weather they'd have to face:

Regards, David

Submitted by tngan on Fri, 2011-10-07 11:12.

Hi there,

Well, the dome/tower structure looked different though as it looks like reinforced concrete in the new photos to me.  Googled it using Chinese keywords and found some posting mentioned the light source was rebuilt with solar power back in 1986.

Best Regards,

T

Submitted by David on Thu, 2016-05-19 16:15.

See the article "A brief history of the Gap Rock Lighthouse", by Ir Dr S W POON, Dr Y DENG, Ir K Y MA, Ir K F MAN and T W TSIN, at the bottom of page:

http://www.hkengineer.org.hk/program/home/articlelist.php?cat=article&vo...

Submitted by moddsey on Sun, 2016-05-22 10:13.

HK Sunday Herald 2 May 1948

One of the last men to leave the Gap Rock Lighthouse was Sydney Bamsey who was taken off the island by a British destroyer (???)  to Hong Kong on 8 December 1941.

Submitted by David on Fri, 2016-09-30 14:53.

Next Friday, October 7, Stephen Davies will give a lecture titled: "Hong Kong's Lighthouses and the Men Who Manned Them".

Full details: http://www.royalasiaticsociety.org.hk/events/2016/7/3/lecture-hong-kongs...