Cape Dombey Obelisk

Cape Dombey’s most striking feature is the 40 foot tall red and white striped Obelisk which stands 100 feet above sea level, defying rough weather and decaying limestone cliffs at this dramatic point.

Built in 1855 by local builder George Shivas at a cost of 230 pounds, the limestone was carted to its site by a 32 bullock wagon team. Originally mariners were unhappy with the white painted Obelisk, as it was still difficult to differentiate the marker from Long Beach’s white sand hills and the limestone cliffs of the coast.

In 1862 the Obelisk was repainted in alternate red and white horizontal bands and it can now be seen from a distance of 20kms on a clear day. Given the South East coast’s notoriety for shipwrecks, with 30 wrecks occurring in Guichen Bay in 1853 alone, the Obelisk was used to store rockets fired to distressed ships which carried life lines and baskets for bringing passengers ashore thus saving many lives.