Situated in Point Gellibrand Coastal Park on the outskirts of Williamstown was the timeball tower where Europeans first settled in Victoria. In 1849 when the tower was originally constructed, it was a lighthouse made from bluestone, quarried and built by convict prisoners. Some ten years later, the lighthouse became a timeball tower which allowed ships to adjust their chronometers.
Although Point Gellibrand’s tower drops its ball daily at one o’clock, these towers are rare today. There remains only three other working timeballs in the world; one is found in Greenwich, London.
From here to there 