Warden Head

Originally built on the Ulladulla Breakwater in 1873, the light was relocated to Warden Head in 1879.
The lighthouse was built in 1873 and was originally located at the entrance to Ulladulla harbour approximately 1.5km to the North West of Warden Head.
It was designed in the Colonial Architect’s Office by Edward Moriarty to the same design as the Wollongong Breakwater Light.
Joseph Mather won the contract to build both lighthouses, and Warden Head was built after he had completed the first of the two lighthouses at Wollongong Harbour.
These two lighthouses were unusual in New South Wales in that they were made of curved wrought-iron plates riveted together using ship building techniques of the period rather than masonry or stone construction common to NSW lighthouses at the time.
The wrought iron plates were manufactured and assembled in Mather’s yard at Darling Harbour in Sydney, they were then re-assembled on site. The tower is topped with a small ornate balcony with an iron handrail. The first apparatus was an oil wick lamp producing a light of 800 candelas.
In 1920 the original oil lamp was replaced with an automatic flashing white light using acetylene gas and the light was demanned. The light was converted to electric operation on the 15th of May 1964. Incandescent lamps were replaced in November 2018 following extensive repairs to the tower. The 24 volt LED light source and Universal Lighthouse LED controller are supplied by mains electricity with battery back up.