Roman rock lighthouse

Roman rock lighthouse Probably one of the most interesting lighthouses in Southern Africa is Roman Rock is the fifth oldest lighthouse in South Africa, it stands at the entrance to the historical naval harbour of Simons Town.

The 14m circular cast-iron tower of the landmark is painted white with a white lantern house. It was designed by Alexander Gordon of the British Lighthouse Authority.

The lighthouse was built because Joseph Nours who was Commodore of the Royal Navy at Simon’s Town, wrote to the Secretary-General of the Admiralty in London. He stressed the importance of the safety of His Majesty’s ships coming in to anchor at Simons Town at night. The Roman Rock lighthouse shone its first light on 16 September 1861.

It was quite an achievement to construct. Builders had to work with waves washing over the rock.  The original concrete foundation developed cracks from the waves buffeting against it. The damage was repaired with the building of a granite sheath around the base. It is twelve and a half feet high. The nearest source of granite was the large boulders on the shore. Stonemasons carefully chiselled out 4-ton rounded sections, which were assembled on the beach to ensure that they fitted together properly. They were then taken to the lighthouse on a specially-made barge.  They were then offloaded by a derrick attached to the pier that juts out from the lighthouse, and then they were pulled to the tower by an aerial railway and carefully assembled around the base of the lighthouse. Builders worked in waist-high water.

Back in the day, the lighthouse was manned by two keepers. They stocked the tower with enough food, lamp oil and water.  They then took turns of one week on and one week off. Getting there and back, however, was weather-dependent.