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| List: | Register of the National Estate |
| Class: | Historic |
| Legal Status: | Registered (21/03/1978) |
| Place ID: | 2870 |
| Place File No: | 1/13/026/0002 |
| Statement of Significance: |
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Battery A84 is one of a number of places that are part of the larger Middle Head-Georges Heights defence site (see Register No.102619). The site is historically significant as the location of major defence works for Sydney Harbour and Port Jackson during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Battery A84, known as the Battery for Five Guns, comprising underground rock cut tunnels and chambers and above ground gun-emplacements, constructed from 1871-73, is important in illustrating the implementation of an outer line of defences to Sydney Harbour at Georges Heights, in conjunction with gun emplacements B42, C9a and A83. Recommended by the Defence Committee of 1870, following the departure of Imperial British forces, Battery A84 is evidence of the British Government's resolve that colonies with responsible government should bear the cost of their own defence. (Criterion A.4) (Australian Historic Themes: 7.7 Defending Australia) Battery A84 is an uncommon example of an 1870s coastal battery which was modified between 1889-1892 to accommodate a Submarines Miners Firing and Observation Post. (Criterion B.2) Battery A84 is important in illustrating the principal characteristics of large gun batteries erected for the defence of Sydney Harbour in the 1870s. Characteristics include rock cut tunnels, multiple gun pits, a brick lined powder magazine, later used as a casualty station, shell and shot stores and ready stores. (Criterion D.2) Battery A84 is important for its association with the office of the Colonial Architect, James Barnet, which was responsible for the design and construction of defences in the colony in conjunction with the Corps of Engineers. (Criterion H.1) |
| Official Values: Not Available |
| Description: |
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Background Battery A84 is one of a number of places that are part of the larger Middle Head-Georges Heights defence site (see Register No.102619). The site is historically significant as the location of major defence works for Sydney Harbour and Port Jackson during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. History In 1862, the British Government resolved that colonies with responsible government should bear the cost of their own defence, and by 1870 the last British (Imperial) line regiment had left Australia. In 1870, a New South Wales' Defence Committee recommended the construction of batteries on Middle Head and Georges Head as well as Bradley's Head, Steel Point and South Head, as part of an outer line of defences. The Office of the Colonial Architect drew up the plans, with input from the Engineer Corps of New South Wales, and construction started in 1871. At Georges Heights four separate batteries (B42, A83, A84 and C9a) were commenced. Most of this work was executed by 1877, including a Barracks that is associated with Battery A84 (See Register No.2871). Battery A84 was commenced as a battery for five, possibly six, guns early in 1871. It comprised gun pits for three 68-pounders and two 10-inch guns, with a field of fire that was believed to exceed that of all other batteries (Town and Country Journal 4 and 18 February 1871). Subsequently, with the construction of the Chowder Bay Submarine Miners Depot and Barracks for the Submarine Miners (Gun Shot Alley), the four northern gun pits and passages were modified to form Observation and Firing Posts between 1889-1892. The passages were roofed in concrete and four pits filled in. False floors were also added to the passages. An inclined rock cut tunnel connected the battery directly with the Artillery Barracks of 1873 and defensive works designed to prevent landing parties approaching Battery A84 below the field of fire. The battery remained in this form until c.1934. The Powder Magazine was modified to form a casualty station during the period of the Second World War, when the passages and walls were lined in brick. The site was stripped of its fittings in the post war years following the decommissioning of coastal defence batteries. Physical Description The A84 Battery displays two main periods of construction and development disposed at two levels; above ground and below ground. 1. 1871-1889 The earliest construction includes the main rock-cut Gallery connecting with the gun pits, storage alcoves, Cartridge Store and Powder Magazine with brick inner shell, located below ground level. Ready Stores at each Gun Pit serviced the guns in operation. The geometry of the connecting passages also served to isolate the Magazine from the gun pits. 2. 1889-1920 In the conversion of the battery to Submarine Miners Observation and Firing Post the northern four gun pits were converted by roofing in concrete and filling the northern two gun pits completely. False floors in the two gun pits used for firing and observation raised the floor levels and isolated original steps and operational details. The open passage connecting the powder magazine and battery to the Barracks was formed at this time. The two southern gun pits were lined with brick and concrete at this time. Electric cable conduits led from these two gun pits to the barracks and towards the two observation posts formed in the northern gun pits. Ventilation shafts were formed in the roofs of the passages during this period, covered by metal gratings at ground level. The Magazine was modified at this time by the removal of the interior magazine lining fabric and structure. Recent work at the site has restored in part the two southern gun pits, whilst iron doors have been added to the Shell Store. Guns contemporary with the battery have been placed in the two open gun pits on reconstructed mountings. The outer walls of these gun pits clearly illustrate the technical skills and detailing employed in the design and construction of batteries during the 1870s in New South Wales coastal batteries. Gunpit A3 shows the use of ashlar masonry to augment the rock cut pit with its shallow angled glacis designed to deflect shot. The date 1873 is carefully cut into the masonry. |
| History: Not Available |
| Condition and Integrity: |
| The site is in poor condition. The battery was modified between 1889 and 1892 to become a Submarine Mines Firing and Observation Post, and the Powder Magazine was modified during the 1930s for use as a casualty station. The site was subsequently stripped of all fittings in the post-World War Two period. Two of the gun pits, A3 and A4, were excavated during the 1990s and now appear close to their original form. (August 2001) |
| Location: |
| Located at the end of Suakin Drive, Georges Heights, 70m east of the Officers Mess. |
| Bibliography: |
| Design 5 Architects, 1996. "A83, A84, B42, & C9a Batteries and Tunnels, Georges Heights, Sydney" Conservation Management Plan. Department of Defence. NEGP Report. |
Report Produced: Wed Feb 10 02:44:04 2010