The Labuan Chimney

The Chimney stands at Tanjung Kubong on the north of Labuan, a red brick tower about thirty-two metres high built from something like twenty-three thousand imported bricks, dating from the coal-mining operations that ran on the island from the 1840s. The point of interest is that nobody knows what it was for. Excavation found no soot, no flue and no sign of burning, and no connection to the mine workings below, so the ventilation-shaft and chimney theories both fail on the evidence; the surviving explanations are a bell tower, a lighthouse or navigation mark, or an ornamental folly attached to the mine manager's house, none of them documented. A small interpretation centre at the base sets out what is known and what is not, and there are mine tunnels in the area.

What you actually see

• A 32-metre brick tower - built from imported brick in the coal-mining era.
• No soot and no flue - the physical evidence that it was never a chimney.
• An interpretation centre - laying out the competing theories at the base.
• Old mine workings - tunnels from the 1840s coal operation nearby.

When to go

All year. An hour.

Honest expectations

It is one structure and takes twenty minutes. The mystery is genuine, which means there is no answer at the end of the display. Facilities are basic and it is a drive from Victoria.

Nearby

The Labuan war cemetery and Peace Park are elsewhere on the island.