Lyttelton Timeball Station ~
right place... perfect time
2
Reserve Terrace, Lyttelton, N.Z.
Visual signals were important features
of any port, necessary for communication between ship and shore, in pre-radio
times.
Daily from 1876-1934, the dropping of the Lyttelton timeball signalled
Greenwich time to shipping in the harbour. This enabled navigators to check their
chronometers and so calculate accurately their position of longitude once back
at sea.
While Lyttelton's timeball was one of many constructed as part of
a vast Victorian network of time signals around the globe, it is one of few to
have survived in working order and the only one still standing in New Zealand.
It
is a rare piece of maritime history, fabulously restored and boasting spectacular
views over Lyttelton Harbour.
The
Historic Places Trust Pouhere Taonga is the leading agency for the protection
of sites and buildings in New Zealand that are of historic and cultural significance
to its peoples.
Puritia
nga taonga tuku iho a nga tupuna hei tiki huia ma nga uri whakatupu a Aotearoa.
Keep the treasures
handed down by the ancestors as an adornment for the descendants yet to be born
in New Zealand.
Images taken
by Grant Sheehan, unless otherwise specified
The
Historic Places Trust Pouhere Taonga is the leading agency for the protection
of sites and buildings in New Zealand that are of historic and cultural significance
to its peoples.