We keep the light at Cape Solander.
A volunteer society on the Kurnell Peninsula, caring for a decommissioned lighthouse of 1885: re-pointing the tower by hand, opening it to the public four days a week, and running the small museum in the keeper's cottage.
Open Thursday to Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm. Free entry to the museum and the grounds; tower tours $12. The station has been watched over since 1885, and without a break since the society formed in 1993.
A tower, and the people who kept it
The Cape Solander light was built to bring coastal shipping safely into Botany Bay. It was lit by hand and watched by hand for nearly ninety years, and after the charted light moved south in 1974 it was left standing, fenced, and slowly taken back by the salt.
The tower went up in 1884 and 1885 on the south head of the Cape, close enough to the shipping lane that a keeper with a good glass could read a vessel's name from the gallery. It is cut sandstone at the base and rendered rubble above, twenty-two metres to the gallery, with a third-order lens and a clockwork drive. The first keeper lit it on 14 March 1885.
Three keepers and their families lived on the point until the station was automated. When the light was moved to an automatic steel tower in 1974 the old tower was closed: the lens was boxed, the stair was chained, and for nineteen years the building stood empty.
The society formed in 1993, after the tower was listed on the state heritage register and it became clear that no one else was going to repair it. Thirteen years of working bees followed — repointing, joinery, stair repair, drainage. The tower reopened to the public in 2006 and the heritage beacon was relit in 2011.
In the record
- 1885
- First lit on 14 March, on the south head of the Cape, guiding shipping into Botany Bay.
- 1898
- The keeper's cottage is extended and a second assistant keeper is appointed.
- 1913
- Converted from oil to acetylene; the Chance Brothers lens is kept on its pedestal.
- 1932
- Electrified, and the clockwork rotation is replaced by an electric drive.
- 1974
- Decommissioned. The charted light moves to an automatic steel tower sixty metres south, and the old tower is fenced and closed.
- 1993
- The society forms after the tower is listed on the state heritage register. The first working bee brings forty volunteers.
- 2006
- The tower reopens to the public after thirteen years of masonry, joinery and stair repair.
- 2011
- The heritage beacon is relit with a modern LED array, showing Fl(3) W 15s on open days.
- 2018
- The museum opens in the restored head keeper's cottage.
Lighted the lamp at sunset. Wind south-east fresh, sea rough to the southward. All well.
14 March 1885 — first entry, keeper's log, in the museum collection
Tours
Tower tours run on the hour through the open days, led by volunteers who can tell you what every wall plate and every scratch of pencil was for. Numbers are small, because the stair is.
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The tower tour
Up the ninety-six steps of the spiral stair to the lamp room: the lens pedestal, the wall plates the keepers chalked their hours on, and the view south along the Kurnell Peninsula. About forty-five minutes on the stair and gallery, with a stop in the watch room.
Duration45 minutes TimesOn the hour, from 10.30 am Places8 people Price$12 adult, $6 child 5–15, $28 family Book by email -
Sunset keeper's tour
The last tour of the day, timed so that the lamp room is at dusk. The lantern, the watch log, and what a keeper was actually watching for. Tea in the cottage afterwards, if the wind is kind.
Duration90 minutes TimesLast Saturday of the month, September to April Places12, booking essential Price$22 Book by email -
Group and school visits
Weekday mornings for schools, community groups and coach parties: a guided walk through the cottage and grounds, the tower in small groups, and time with the collection. Teachers' notes and a pre-visit pack are available on request.
DurationAbout 2 hours TimesWeekday mornings, by arrangement Places10 to 30 Price$8 a student, accompanying adults free Arrange a visit
The stair has ninety-six steps, no lift and no step-free access, and the gallery holds eight people at a time. Closed-toe shoes, please. Tours pause in high wind, in lightning, and on days of total fire ban; if that happens we will move your booking or refund it.
The museum
The head keeper's cottage holds the station's own collection, kept and catalogued by volunteers. Entry is free.
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The lens
The third-order Fresnel lens that lit the tower from 1885 to 1974, cleaned, reassembled and back on its original pedestal. Some six hundred prisms, and one chip that nobody is going to talk about.
1885 · Chance Brothers, Birmingham -
The keeper's logbooks
Eighty-nine volumes of weather, shipping, lamp hours and repairs, in the keepers' own hands. Digitised in 2020; the originals are shown in rotation to keep them out of the light.
1885 to 1974 -
The fog bell
Cast with the tower and still timed by the original striking clock. It is rung on the hour during open days, which the neighbours have views about.
1885 -
Tools and uniform
The keeper's tool chest, the oil cans, the wick trimmers, and the electrician's test set from the 1932 conversion.
1885 to 1932 -
Photographs
Glass plates and prints of the station, the keepers' families and the ships that passed the point. Most are identified. Some are not, and we would genuinely like help with those.
1890s to 1960s -
Wreck relics
Timber and fittings recovered from the reef below the point, including material from the brig Petrel, lost there in 1889.
1889 and later
The museum is run by volunteers and kept going by donations. There is a small shop in the cottage with books, charts and the society's quarterly record. If you would like to see something specific, email info@capesolanderlighthouse.org.au and we will have it out of the case.
Visit
The station is on Cape Solander, at the south-east corner of Kamay Botany Bay National Park — about forty-five minutes from central Sydney, and the last land before the Tasman.
- Thursday to Sunday
- 10 am – 4 pm
- Last tower tour
- 3 pm
- Monday to Wednesday
- closed
- Christmas Day, and days of total fire ban
- closed
Getting there
By car — Cape Solander Drive, off Captain Cook Drive, Kurnell. Free parking two hundred metres from the cottage, with two accessible bays at the gate.
By bus — Route 987 to Kurnell village, then a twenty-five minute walk south along the Cape Solander track.
On foot — The Cape Solander walking track runs 1.2 km from the national park visitor centre to the point: unsealed, uneven in places, and completely exposed to the wind.
Access
The grounds, the cottage and the museum are step-free, with a level route from the accessible bays, doorways wide enough for a wheelchair, and an accessible toilet beside the cottage.
The tower is not accessible. It is reached only by a ninety-six step spiral stair with no lift and no step-free route, and it is not open to wheelchairs or to prams. A ground-floor display in the cottage shows the lamp room, the lens and the view from the gallery, and a volunteer will bring down anything you would like to see.
What to bring
The point is exposed in every season: a hat, water, sunscreen and closed-toe shoes. Bring a jacket even on a warm day — the wind through the gallery is real, and the stair is narrow.
Questions we are asked
Is the light still working?
The original optic was removed and boxed in 1974, and the charted light is now an automatic tower sixty metres to the south, which is not ours. We run a heritage beacon in the old tower on open days: a modern LED array, in the original character of Fl(3) W 15s. It is a real light, but it is not a navigation aid.
Do I need to book?
Not for the museum or the grounds — turn up on an open day. Tower tours run on the hour and usually have space, but the sunset keeper's tour has twelve places and books out weeks ahead.
Can I climb the tower?
If you can manage ninety-six steps in a tight spiral stair, yes. Children under five, and anyone who would rather not, are welcome to stay with the ground-floor display instead, and a volunteer will walk you through the lens and the lamp room.
Is the site accessible?
The grounds, cottage and museum are step-free. The tower is not. There is more detail under Access above, and if you would like to talk it through before you come, email us — we would rather answer the question now than have you find out at the gate.
Are dogs allowed?
The national park requires dogs to be on a leash and to stay out of the cottage and the tower. Assistance dogs are welcome everywhere.
Is there a cafe?
No. There is a small volunteer-run shop in the cottage, and the nearest cafes and shops are in Kurnell village, three kilometres north.
Keep the light
Everything here is done by volunteers — the tours, the collection, the repointing, the tea. If you have a few hours a month, or a skill we have not thought of, we would like to hear from you.
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The watch crew
Climb and inspect the tower on the first Sunday of every month: the stair, the gallery, the lantern and the drainage. Training and company provided. This is the job the society was formed for.
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Tour guides and front desk
Two shifts a month, showing people the tower or meeting them in the cottage. We train you on the station's record first, and you are never on your own on your first days.
TimeTwo shifts a month Volunteer -
The collection
Cataloguing, digitising and conservation work on the photographs, the logbooks and the objects. Careful hands and patience, more than qualifications.
TimeFlexible, weekdays Help with the collection -
Grounds and garden
The wind-bitten coastal planting around the cottage, and the track down to the point. Bring gloves; we bring the tools and the tea.
TimeWorking bees, monthly Come to a working bee
Membership and giving
$30 a year, $15 concession, $45 a household. Members get free entry, the society's quarterly record, and a vote at the annual meeting.
Adopt a stone — $50. One block of stone re-pointed and recorded, with its position entered in the conservation log. Larger gifts and bequests can be talked through with the committee.
The watch record
The monthly light watch, January to December. Nine of twelve are complete for 2026, and October's is due today. The watch has not lapsed since the society formed in 1993.
Contact and book
Email is the surest way to reach us, and the phone is answered only on open days. We are a small volunteer committee, so please allow us a day or two.
- Tours and bookings tours@capesolanderlighthouse.org.au
- Volunteering and the watch volunteer@capesolanderlighthouse.org.au
- Membership and donations membership@capesolanderlighthouse.org.au
- General, and the collection info@capesolanderlighthouse.org.au
- Phone, Thursday to Sunday (02) 9523 4400
The station
Cape Solander Drive, Kurnell NSW 2231
inside Kamay Botany Bay National Park
Post
PO Box 188, Kurnell NSW 2231
Open
Thursday to Sunday, 10 am – 4 pm. Last tower tour 3 pm.
The Cape Solander Lighthouse Society Inc. is a volunteer society, formed in 1993 and run by its members. Everything on this page is done by people who give their time.