Section 5 - Table Cape Lighthouse Heritage Management Plan 2022 - Heritage Significance

5Heritage Significance

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5 Heritage Significance

5.1 Commonwealth Heritage listing – Table Cape Lighthouse

The following statement of significance and heritage value criterion below is taken from the Table Cape Lighthouse listing on the Commonwealth Heritage List (Place ID: 105603).

Commonwealth statement of significance

Table Cape Light, built in 1888, is significant for its association with the development of maritime navigation aids along the Tasmanian coast, and with the development of the surrounding region and the expansion of the shipping trade along the north coast (Criterion A) (Themes 3.8.1 Shipping to and from Australian ports, 3.16.1 Dealing with hazards and disasters)

The tower is distinctive for its unusual below-ground-level base and access bridge (Criterion B).

Standing on a flat-topped headland atop cliffs towering high above the sea, the light tower is a well-known landmark feature of considerable aesthetic value (Criterion E).

Commonwealth heritage criteria

There are nine criteria for inclusion in the Commonwealth Heritage List – meeting any one of these is sufficient for listing a place. These criteria are similar to those used in other Commonwealth, state and local heritage legislation, although thresholds differ. In the following sections, the Table Cape Lighthouse is discussed in relation to each of the criteria as based on the site’s current Commonwealth Heritage Listing (Place ID: 105603).

Criterion	Relevant Attributes Identified	Explanation
Criterion A – ProcessesThis criterion is satisfied by places that have significant heritage value because of [their] importance in the course, or pattern, of Australia’s natural or cultural history.	The whole of the lighthouse form, brick fabric, steel features and landscaped setting.	Table Cape Light, built in 1888, is significant for its association with the development of maritime navigational aids along the Tasmanian coast, and with the development of the surrounding region and the expansion of the shipping trade along the north coast.
Criterion B – RarityThis criterion is satisfied by places that have significant heritage value because of [their] possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of Australia’s natural or cultural history.	The below-ground-level base and access bridge.	The tower is distinctive for its unusual below-ground-level base and access bridge.
Criterion E – Aesthetic characteristicsThis criterion is satisfied by places that have significant heritage value because of [their] importance in exhibiting particular aesthetic characteristic value by a community or cultural group.

Criteria	Explanation and evidence
Criterion a) The place is important to the course or pattern of Tasmania’s history.	Table Cape Lighthouse, built in 1888, is significant for its association with the early settlement and development of the surrounding region and the expansion of the shipping trade along the coast of Tasmania.
Criterion d) The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of place in Tasmania’s history.	Table Cape Lighthouse is of historic heritage significance because it represents the principal characteristics of a Victorian brick lighthouse.
Criterion f) The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social or spiritual reasons.	Table Cape Lighthouse is of historic heritage significance as a dramatic landmark feature values by the community.

Criteria	Values (including attributes)	Condition	Integrity
Criterion A – Processes	Table Cape Light, built in 1888, is significant for its association with the development of maritime navigational aids along the Tasmanian coast, and with the development of the surrounding region and the expansion of the shipping trade along the north coast.	Good	High
Criterion B –Rarity	The tower is distinctive for its unusual below-ground-level base and access bridge.	Good	High
Criterion E – Aesthetic characteristics	Standing on a flat-topped headland atop cliffs towering high above the sea, the light tower is a well-known landmark feature of considerable aesthetic value.	Good	High