Description du lieu patrimonial

The Annandale Rear Range Light is a square tapered, wood-shingled tower on a wood foundation located on Banks Point overlooking Boughton Bay in the rural community of Annandale, Prince Edward Island. It has a distinctive red painted vertical daymark.

Valeur patrimoniale

The Annandale Rear Range Light is valued for its association with the marine and navigational history of the area, and for its contribution to the landscape of Annandale, Prince Edward Island as an iconic visual landmark.

The range light was originally constructed in 1898, but following a 1901 gale which toppled it, it was re-constructed closer to the Annandale Front Range Light. The only one of its type in the province, the range light has had few changes over the years other than its enclosure in 1905 and re-shingling in 1988. Located on the north shore of the Grand River, the square tapered tower had a wood post foundation and heavy metal anchoring cables (on all sides from the upper part of the tower to the ground) with a base of 6.8m which tapers to 1.68m. The tower itself stands at 19.8m making it the tallest range light on the Island. It has a fixed white catoptric light at a focal plane of 22m above the high water mark. Like most range lights of this style, the interior is unfinished but consists of narrow, steep stairs with small platforms rather than floor divisions.

The lighthouse has recently been moved back from the bank and re-clad. In 2020 the lighthouse was designated under the federal Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act, and members of the Norton family formed Annandale Lighthouse Inc., a non-profit which maintains and celebrates the history of the lighthouse. Video footage of the lighthouse is found here.

The 1990 Annandale Front Range Light is located nearby as is the 1898 former Annandale Front Range Light which was decommissioned in 1990, and is now privately owned.

The Annandale Rear Range Light continues to be an important visual and cultural landmark in its community.

Source: Heritage Places files, Department of Economic Growth, Tourism & Culture, Charlottetown, PE C1A 7N8
File #: 4310-20/A52