[3][4][5] In February 2006 the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust commissioned the Australian Museum Business Services to carry out an Archaeological Survey of the Macquarie Lightstation.
It also recommended that any work to the east of the Francis Greenway wall that will result in the exposure of the sandstone platforms will require monitoring and detailed recording conducted by a qualified archaeologist.
[2] The Macquarie Lightstation Precinct and surrounding lands were dedicated to navigational and communication activities from the very early years of the colony and remarkably continue to be associated with these uses today.
Prior to 1816 South Head was the site for a manned flagstaff, a fire beacon, a navigation column and a signal station.
By the end of 1790 the site was known as the "Look-out Post" and there were huts and vegetable gardens adjacent to the flagstaff for the eleven men stationed there.
[2] During this period, access to the site was via a walking track which was approximately in the same location as the present Old South Head Road.
[2] Governor Macquarie gave instructions that a lighthouse, the first in Australia, be constructed at the entrance to Port Jackson on South Head.
Numerous people criticised the appropriateness of the site because of its distance 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi) from the opening into Port Jackson between Sydney Heads.
Greenway suggested North Head as an appropriate location, but this was dismissed by Governor Macquarie as being too remote.
[2][6] The lighthouse sat in an area compounded by four stone retaining walls with originally two corner lodges intended for the "keepers of the Signals".
In addition, Greenway and Gill often disagreed on best methods of construction leading to design and engineering compromises.
[2] The lighthouse was operational permanently from 1818 and was under the supervision of the former quartermaster for the first Fleet and retired harbourmaster, Robert Watson.
[2] He had previously served as quartermaster on the Sirius, worked at Norfolk Island and had been Harbour Master at Port Jackson.
The soft sandstone proved short-lived, and even as early as 1823 it started crumbling, and large steel bands were placed to keep the structure together.
The wreck of the Dunbar in particular showed the deficiencies of the Macquarie Light, as it appeared that The Gap may have been mistaken for the harbour entry.
As a consequence the Hornby light was constructed at the extreme northerly end of South Head in 1858.
On especially bad weather a second generator was also operated, resulting in a 6,000,000 cd light, the world's most powerful at the time.
Despite having once been thought to be the "most efficient light in the world", by 1909 it was deemed to be obsolete, unable to cope with the heavy winter fogs.
At the lightstation, this included the construction of an observation post east of the lighthouse and a nearby shaft and tunnel, the location of which has since been obscured.
After the war there was a rapid development in other navigational systems, and the lighthouse became simply one of a number of aids which enabled the mariner to determine his exact position.
The importance of manned lighthouses such as Macquarie also decreased with the advent of integrated air systems for surveillance, search and rescue.
[2] In 2004, the head keeper's cottage (on the south side) was offered for sale at a price of A$1.95 million.
The tower is founded on spread sandstone footings approximately 1.8 metres (5 ft 11 in) wide bearing on the rock.
[2] Part of the cottage is/was the sandstone pavilion designed by Francis Greenway along with the adjacent original lighthouse, in 1818.
[15][2] Macquarie Lighthouse Site was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
This Wikipedia article contains material from Macquarie Lighthouse Site, entry number 00677 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 2 June 2018.