The necessity of a lighthouse was acknowledged in 1856 , a design of an iron tower on a granite base was suggested and costs began to be incurred with no results . A new design of the lighthouse by Alexander Gordon and Sir James Nicholas Douglass was put forward in 1867 and approved . The executive engineer in charge was William Douglass , brother of James . Two steam vessels were used , each capable of carrying 120 tonnes of stone and each equipped with lifting gear , as each block weighs 2 to 3 tons . The first stone was laid in December 1870 , the last in late 1872 and the light was lit in March 1873 . The cost had been £ 63,000 , of which £ 40,000 had been expended to no effect before Trinity House and William Douglass were involved . It withstood the force of the 2004 tsunami with only modest damage ; it was repaired with assistance from the UK lighthouse authorities Trinity House and The Northern Lighthouse Board
2004 tsunami
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
Great Basses Reef Lighthouse