Fisgard Lighthouse

Fisgard was lit on 16 November 1860 to guide ships into Esquimalt Harbour, the first permanent light on the Canadian Pacific coast, built of local brick and stone, though legend says the brick came from England as ballast, and its first keeper, George Davies, came out from England with the lens and lantern. It stands on a small island joined to the shore by a causeway, white tower on a red brick keeper's house, and was automated in 1928; the keeper's rooms are now a small museum on wrecks and the lighthouse service. The site shares a ticket with Fort Rodd Hill, a coastal artillery battery built in the 1890s to defend the naval base, with gun emplacements, magazines and searchlight positions still in place.

History

Governor James Douglas asked the British government for a lighthouse here, and Fisgard Island, named after HMS Fisgard, which had surveyed it in 1848, was chosen; with its sister station at Race Rocks it was built in 1859-60 to guide naval ships into Esquimalt Harbour and merchant ships into Victoria Harbour. John Wright and Hermann Otto Tiedemann designed the tower and its gothic red-brick house, built from local brick and stone rather than, as legend has it, ballast from Britain, and the first keeper, George Davies, came out from England with the lens and lantern; it was first lit at sunset on 16 November 1860, and after a fire gutted its interior in 1957 it was restored and declared a National Historic Site the following year (Wikipedia, Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Site).

What's there

• The 1860 tower - the first permanent light on Canada's west coast.
• The keeper's house - brick rooms with displays on wrecks and the service.
• Fort Rodd Hill - three artillery batteries with guns, magazines and tunnels.
• The harbour view - naval traffic entering Esquimalt past the point.

When to go

April to October for full opening; the site reduces hours in winter. Storm-watching in autumn suits the exposed causeway. Sunset light on the red brick is good.

Things to know

The causeway floods and closes in high seas and storms. The tower interior is small and the climb is a narrow spiral. Fort Rodd Hill takes as long as the lighthouse.

Nearby

Victoria lies east; the Juan de Fuca coast runs west.

Key facts