Iron Pot

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Iron Pot is a small flat sandstone island near the entrance to the River Derwent in southeast Tasmania, part of the Betsey Island Group, about 11 km southeast of Hobart. It covers around 1.27 hectares and marks the boundary between Storm Bay and the sheltered waters to Hobart. The island is best known for the Iron Pot Lighthouse, Tasmania’s oldest lighthouse, completed in 1832 to help ships enter the Derwent.

Built with convict labor from locally quarried stone, the lighthouse was first lit on 16 November 1832. It has been powered by whale oil, kerosene, acetylene, and finally solar power from 1977, becoming Australia’s first solar-powered lighthouse. Iron Pot is uninhabited today but was once home to lighthouse keepers and their families. A keeper, James Parkinson, and his family lived there from 1884, and supplies were delivered by boat and raised ashore with a derrick crane—remnants of which can still be seen.

In 1856 a colonial commission helped manage maritime safety, including six Tasmanian lighthouses like Iron Pot. The origin of the name is uncertain; one idea is that it came from an old iron pot used as an early beacon. The island has limited vegetation and some invasive plants, but it’s also a breeding site for seabirds and wading birds, such as little penguins, Pacific gulls, silver gulls, pied oystercatchers, and black-faced cormorants.

Today the Iron Pot Lighthouse remains a distinctive landmark at the river’s mouth, symbolizing Hobart’s seafaring history. Guided tours by Pennicott Wilderness Journeys from Constitution Dock offer views of the lighthouse and its old derrick crane, though access is limited and best by boat from South Arm.