Cape Schanck, Victoria

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Cape Schanck
Victoria

Cape Schanck (view from atop the lighthouse)

Population:

334 (2006)^[1]

Postcode:

3939

Elevation:

79 m (259 ft)

Location:

88 km (55 mi) from Melbourne
15 km (9 mi) from Rosebud

LGA:

Shire of Mornington Peninsula

State District:

Nepean

Federal Division:

Flinders

Mean Max Temp	Mean Min Temp	Rainfall
16.9 °C ^{62 °F}	11 °C ^{52 °F}	751.2 mm ^{29.6 in}

Cape Schanck is a locality in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is the southernmost tip of the Mornington Peninsula and separates the wild ocean waters of Bass Strait from the slightly calmer waters of Western Port.

The most recognisable symbol of Cape Schanck is the Cape Schanck Lighthouse. The lighthouse was built in 1859 and was the second lighthouse built in Victoria.^[2] A prominent rock outcrop is Pulpit Rock and stands out at the very tip of the cape.

Cape Schanck is also home to the RACV Resort Cape Schanck which includes an eighteen hole golf course.. British-Australian artist Georgiana McCrae produced a lot of her paintings in Cape Schanck.

[edit] History

Pulpit Rock

The location is reputed to have been named after Captain Schanck (Schank), an English Navy captain and contemporary of Matthew Flinders,^[3] who was also famous for designing the raised keel (or centreboard) used on naval vessels so as to allow navigation in shallow waters. One of the ships, the Lady Nelson, incorporating this design was used extensively in exploration of the southern coast of Australia from 1800.

The Lady Nelson carried the party which first saw the twin peaks of Mt Gambier and its nearby volcano named Mt Schanck, in honour of the keel designer. As it continued its voyage further east it passed a rocky headland which we now know as Cape Schanck.

In 1893 a steamship, the SS Alert, sunk off the coast at Cape Schanck during a storm. It was recently rediscovered after 113 years on the ocean floor in June 2007.