South Channel Pile Light, Maritime lighthouse in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, Australia

South Channel Pile Light is a single-story octagonal lighthouse built on screw-driven piles with a timber frame and metal lantern housing. The structure sits directly in Port Phillip Bay and features a surrounding verandah that provided shelter for the keeper.

The Public Works Department designed and built this navigation aid between 1872 and 1874 to guide ships entering Melbourne through the South Channel. The lighthouse served this purpose for over 110 years before being decommissioned in 1985.

The South Channel Pile Light is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register, and its name comes from the narrow South Channel it was built to mark for ships entering Melbourne. Keepers lived in the octagonal structure until 1925, when the light became automatic and the last residents left.

The structure underwent restoration in 1998 and was relocated 3 km from Rye Beach, though the original timber piles remain at its initial site. Access may require boat transport or special arrangements due to its position on the water.

The light was decommissioned in 1985 after 111 years as a navigational beacon, then suffered decades of neglect and vandalism. Parks Victoria restored the structure in 1998 following Heritage Victoria guidelines and moved it three kilometres off Rye Beach. It is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.