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Malpeque Outer Range Front, PE |
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Description:
The entrance to Malpeque Harbour is between Billhook (Fish) Island and Cape Aylesbury. To reach the entrance, mariners first follow the Darnley Point Range Lights (Malpeque Outer Range Lights), located just over a kilometer east of Cape Aylesbury, until this range line intersects that of the Fish Island Range Lights (Malpeque Harbour Approach Range Lights). This second pair of range lights guides the mariner into the harbour.
In 1874, nine gentlemen interested in improvements to navigational aids for Malpeque Harbour, "the only accessible place of refuge on the north side," petitioned the Minister of Marine and Fisheries for a second light on Fish Island and "two lights on Darnley Point, so arranged as to be a guide or mark entering the harbor over the bar." The Darnley Point Range Lights were not built until 1889, and even then they were quite rudimentary consisting of a lantern hoisted atop a 9.1 metre (30 foot) mast with a shed at its base. John D. Morrison was appointed the first keeper of the range lights and was replaced upon his death in 1891 by Cornelius Morrison. In 1893, the diamond-shaped slat-work used on the masts at Brighton Beach were transferred to the masts at Darnley Range "to make the masts more conspicuous in daylight." Due to the unsteadiness of the mast arrangement, open-frame towers topped by enclosed lanterns were erected in 1897 under the supervision of Milton Wlash, foreman of works for the Prince Edward Island Division of the Department of Marine and Fisheries. The two towers were 7.6 metres (25 feet) tall and cost a total of $170.0 for material and labour. In 1908, the Darnley Point Front Range Light was described as a square, white, open-frame structure with slating on its seaward face. This structure displayed a fixed-red light at a focal plane of 12.2 metres (40 feet). Its companion light was a similar structure situated 409 metres (1341 feet) farther inland that displayed a fixed-red light at a height of 19.8 metres (65 feet) above high water. These structures were later enclosed to become the current towers. The Canadian Coast Guard now refers to the lights as the Malpeque Outer Range Lights in its official List of Lights. Fixed-red lights are still displayed from the towers. The front and rear towers have a height, respectively, of 7.8 metres (25.6 feet) and 7.7 metres (25.3 feet) with focal planes of 12.6 metres (41.3 feet) and 21 metres (68.9 feet). The two towers are very similar except the front tower has corner boards and wooden gallery support brackets, while the rear tower lacks corner boards and has iron support brackets. References
Location: Located at the end of Lighthouse Road in Lower Darnley. Latitude: 46.56429 Longitude: -63.65028 For a larger map of Malpeque Outer Range Front Lighthouse, click the lighthouse in the above map or get a map from: Mapquest. Travel Instructions: From Kensington, take Route 20 north for 15.5km (9.7 miles) then turn left onto Lower Darnley Road. After 2.7km (1.7 miles), turn right onto Lighthouse Road and you will find the Malpeque Outer Range Front Lighthouse at the end of the road. Note that Lighthouse Road is private. To get close to the lights, you can stay at Beach Meadow Cottages. The lighthouse is owned by the Canadian Coast Guard. Grounds/tower closed. Find the closest hotels to Malpeque Outer Range Front Lighthouse See our List of Lighthouses in Prince Edward Island Canada |
