Lighthousekeeper: Roman Rock

Not an operation to be carried out in stormy weather.

Roman Rock Lighthouse perches on an isolated rock in the harbour at Simonstown.
It is the only lighthouse on the SA coast erected on a rock that is exposed at low water and awash almost continuously at high water.

Joseph Nourse Commodore of the Royal Navy at Simonstown wrote to the Admiralty in London in January 1823 stressing the importance of the safety of HM ships entering anchorage at Simon's Bay at night. A plan was presented in February of the same year, with an estimated cost of 450 pounds, a low figure for the time.

Nothing happened until 1838 when Rear Admiral Elliott urged the need for a lighthouse at the entrance to Simon's Bay. He repeated his request in 1839. Simon's Bay was still waiting for its lighthouse by 1843. Work finally began on a lighthouse in 1857, but it took four years for the structure to be completed. Delays were very much a part of the history of lighthouse building in South Africa.

Despite adverse comments on the safety and stability of the tower in 1861, the same beacon is still in operation having defied the south-east gales and surging seas which engulf it every summer.