| Photographs: | |
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| List: | Register of the National Estate |
| Class: | Historic |
| Legal Status: | Registered (20/05/2003) |
| Place ID: | 102619 |
| Place File No: | 1/13/026/0026 |
| Statement of Significance: |
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The Defence Site within the headland complex of Middle Head and Georges Heights is important as an area of significant cultural and natural heritage interaction recording a long history of Aboriginal occupation and the defence of Sydney Harbour since European settlement. The two areas of the Defence Site are contiguous with two sub-areas of Sydney Harbour National Park (Register No. 2584) and linked by important evolving cultural landscape frameworks within the scenic foreshores of Sydney Harbour, perhaps Australia's best-known waterway, and a nationally significant icon. The cultural landscape framework comprises a range of historic sites and structures which contribute individually and in groups to the national estate values of the Defence Site. Not all structures or sites within the boundaries are of significance. Sites and places of individual significance include the Military Road Framework (Reg. No. 103266), Headquarters 8th Brigade Precinct (Reg. No. 103292), Batteries A83 & C9a
(Reg. No. 103295), Battery B42
(Reg. No. 103294), WRAAC Officers Mess
(Reg. No. 2871), Battery for Five Guns (Reg. No. 2870),
Headquarters Training Command Precinct
(Reg. No. 103338), 30 Terminal Squadron Precinct
(Reg. No. 103339), Chowder Bay Submarine Miners Barracks
(Reg. No. 2876), Navy Refuelling Depot and Caretakers House (Reg. No. 103337), Commonwealth Avenue Defence Housing
(Reg. No. 103341), Ten Terminal Regiment Headquarters and AUSAID Training Centre Precinct
(Reg. No. 103342) and the former Golf Clubhouse
(Reg. No. 103293), most of which are or will be managed by the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust.
HMAS Penguin
(Reg. No. 103327) remains in use as an operational Naval Base and
represents the continuing presence of Defence at Middle Head and Georges Heights. The Defence Site occupies part of Middle Head and Georges Heights which are held in high esteem by Sydney residents for their natural and scenic values as a significant part of Sydney Harbour's foreshore, and as a relatively natural vantage point and landmark in an otherwise highly urbanised environment. Middle Head has featured in paintings of the Sydney Heads by artists such as Augustus Earle c.1825 and in photographic works by Holtermann c.1875 and, in conjunction with Georges Heights, has been a significant part of the cultural and social life of Sydney and the colony of NSW. (Criterion E.1 and G.1) The remnant natural vegetation is contiguous with Sydney Harbour National Park which is considered one of the finest harbour foreshore parks in the world. (Criteria B.1 and D.1) Middle Head and Georges Heights have significant associations with the science of botany and the study of eucalypts in Australia. A number of early eucalypt specimens were collected by botanists including Robert Brown in 1802, Ferdinand Von Mueller in 1855, Joseph Henry Maiden in 1897, and William S. Blakely in 1937. (Criterion C.1) Midddle Head also documents an important story in post-contact history. In 1815, Governor Macquarie attempted to settle King Bungaree and his people on the upper areas of Middle Head. (Criterion A.4) As a natural vantage point, Middle Head and Georges Heights have played a significant role in the development of colonial and national defence policy and military training in Australia from the Napoleonic Wars until the 1960s and in the implementation of military technology important for its historic values, research and archaeological potential and social values. The evolving cultural landscapes of the headland areas, produced by over 150 years of military and naval use, and linked by a network of military roads, are important for their association with, and ability to illustrate, a broad range of processes which exemplify the strategic role of Middle Head and Georges Heights in the growth of Sydney, the Colony of New South Wales and Australia under Imperial, Colonial and Commonwealth government policies. In this respect the suite of defence related sites are particularly important in illustrating the adoption and development of military technology and the provision of housing for military personnel. The drill hall located in Headquarters 8th Brigade illustrates the universal training scheme which followed the 1909 Defence Act. The former Middle Head barracks complex is also important for its association with the Australian School of Pacific Administration and subsequently as the Commonwealth's AUSAid Centre from the 1970s. (Criterion A.4) The defensive works at Middle Head and Georges Heights are particularly important for their association with; Lt Colonel J Gordon, who introduced the 'two tier' Gordon scheme for the defence of Sydney Harbour in 1845; Colonial Architect James Barnet for the design of the Artillery Barracks in 1873; and General Sir William Jervois RE and Lt Colonel Peter Scratchley, whose report of 1877 formed the basis of defence planning in Australia until after federation in 1901. The growth of leisure and recreation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the establishment of Mosman Municipal Council in 1893, following the sub-divisions of the 1880s, is illustrated by a number of sites which are now important elements in the cultural landscapes associated with military use of the headlands. Important structures include the former Mosman Golf Club House of 1927 and the former 'Mosman Septic Tank' used as a swimming pool during the 1920s and which remains in use as part of HMAS Penguin, the focus of Naval training and hospitalisation in Sydney Harbour. (Criterion A.4 and Criterion H.1) (Australian Historic Themes: 4.2 Supplying urban services, 7.7 Defending Australia, 7.7.1 Providing for the common defence, 7.7.2 Preparing to face invasion, 7.7.3 Going to war, 8.1 Organising recreation) The evolving cultural landscapes contain a wide range of military sites, structures and complexes which are important for their ability to yield information which will lead to a wider understanding of the historical context, design, construction and operation of military barracks, defence housing, fortifications, gun batteries and defensive works in Australia from 1870 to the post war years of the twentieth century. (Criterion C.2) Individual sites and complexes within the relict cultural landscape areas are important for their ability to demonstrate technical innovation in the early use of concrete and the principal characteristics and operation of military barracks, drill halls, defence housing, fortifications, gun batteries and defensive technology and policy in Australia and the architectural styles employed by (NSW) Colonial architects from 1870 and Commonwealth architects from 1901. (Criteria D.2 and F.1)) A number of individual sites are important in demonstrating functions or designs of exceptional interest. Amongst others these include: the Submarine Miners Barracks and Workshops of 1890-93 at Chowder Bay; the former Military Hospital erected towards the end of the First World War; the three c.1930 roofed fuel storage tanks which were the first example of large scale camouflage in Australia; and HMAS Penguin as a purpose built naval training and hospitalisation complex. (Criterion B.2) Defence land at Georges Heights and Middle Head is important for its contribution to the Sydney Harbour foreshores and contains places, which are highly valued by the community. The headland areas are also important for their associations with recreational use, which began in the nineteenth century and for their symbolic associations as part of the setting of Sydney Harbour and the Sydney Heads. (Criterion G.1) It is possible that Indigenous cultural values of national estate significance may exist in this place. As yet, the AHC has not identified, documented or assessed these values. |
| Official Values: Not Available |
| Description: |
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The headland areas comprise a relict cultural landscape
articulated by one of the most diverse collections of coastal defence heritage
in Australia set amidst remnant native vegetation, which extends in places from
the high water level into developed areas. Natural and Indigenous and historic
cultural values are described separately. Natural: Middle and Georges Heads are contiguous sandstone headlands on the western side of the main channel of Sydney Harbourt. The headlands are comprised primarily of Hawkesbury Sandstone and the soils overlying this parent material are shallow, easily eroded, infertile quartz sands. The remaining vegetation of is dominated by a mature bangalay (EUCALYPTUS BOTRYOIDES) and red bloodwood (E. GUMMIFERA) woodland with a dense shrub understorey. Because the absence of fire in recent decades, sweet pittosporum (PITTOSPORUM UNDULATUM) now dominates the vegetation at Middle Head. The area has a reasonably comprehensive fauna list, with 129 species of birds, 1species of frog, 11 species of reptiles and 8 species of mammals. Birds recorded at Middle Head include the whistling kite (HALIASTUR SPHENURUS), rufous fantail (RHIPIDURA RUFIFRONS) and the brown gerygone (GERYGONE MOUKI). Short-beaked echidnas (TACHYGLOSSUS ACULEATUS) have also been recorded at Middle Head. Indigenous: No evidence of King Bungaree's farm appears to remain above surface, although it is possible that there are archaeological remains. Indigenous rock carvings and engravings recorded in the nineteenth century have not been identified. Historic: Historic sites and precincts within the Defence Site are connected by Middle Head Road, which terminates at Middle Head in Governor's and Old Fort roads and at Chowder Bay via Chowder Bay Road. The Defence Site comprise an evolving cultural landscape, which retains pockets of native vegetation with introduced species identifying developed areas centred on the military road system. Military roads formed a strategic framework for gun emplacements, batteries and the nineteenth century military buildings as part of the evolvingt cultural landscape. The Military Roads Framework (Register No.103266) is an historically important link between the National Park areas (formerly Defence land) managed bythe NSW NPWS. Individually significant sites and structures within the Defence Site are discussed at items1-10. Terminology reflects Defence usage and the 1998 Heritage Assessment by Godden Mackay Logan for Defence. 1. Headquarters 8th Brigade Precinct (Register No 103292) is adjacent to Rawson Park at the western end of the defence area on Cross Street, an expression of the original line of the Military Road. The site includes the regionally significant 1913 former Mosman Drill Hall and several locally significant weatherboard structures. The Drill Hall in its location illustrates the political and social role of drill halls in the community in the years preceding the First World War. 2. Gun Batteries and former Officers Mess The ridge at Georges Heights, commanding the harbour approaches, was chosen in 1870 as the location for major defensive works comprising gun batteries A83, A84, B42 and C9a and the associated Artillery Barracks completed in 1873. -Battery A83 ( Register No. 103295) is largely an underground structure with above ground features limited to circular in ground concrete roofs to the gun pits, two entrances to the complex, and a brick walled observation post. The complex retains its underground passages, gunpowder magazine and gun pits relatively intact complete with many internal fittings which illustrate the working of the battery; in this respect it is the only battery in the area with timber fittings in place. -Battery A84 (Battery for Five Guns Register No. 2870) was built as a five-gun battery with a sixth emplacement added on completion in 1873. The complex is connected with the 1873 Artillery Barracks complex via a sloping passageway cut in the bedrock. -Battery C9a ( Register No. 103295) appears to have been excavated 1871-1888. Only the pecked sandstone glacis of one gun pit is visible at ground level. -Battery B42 ( Register No. 103294) displays two periods of construction. The earliest construction 1877-1903, located below ground level, includes the Main gallery with its dead end branches and storage alcoves, the original Cartridge Stores, the Magazine access passage and the Powder Magazine. -The WRAAC Officers Mess (Register No. 2871), completed in 1873 as an Artillery Barracks, is an ashlar sandstone Victorian Georgian style building roofed with corrugated galvanised iron set in an excavated terrace with steep rock faces to the rear and sides. The single storey, hipped roof section, at the front, was extended c.1891 by Lt Colonel de Wolski by the addition of a two storey gabled section at the rear. 3. Headquarters Training Command ( Register No. 103338) occupies buildings associated with the development of Georges Heights as the command centre of artillery defences during the nineteenth century and the military hospital of the First World War period. Nineteenth century buildings associated with the four batteries include the WRAAC Officers Mess (with battery A84), Gunshot Alley, at the junction of Suakim Drive and Commonwealth Avenue, weatherboard cottages and the remains of an Artillery Command Post, Building A76, of the 1890s. - Gunshot Alley built 1898-1900 as accommodation for married soldiers. The terraced form is typical of army housing of the 1890s ;exterior and cross walls of brick with internal walls in timber; gabled pitched roofs with the end houses returned as hipped bays to enclose the verandah on the north side. - Victorian Regency weatherboard cottage (Buildings A6, A7 &A8) built as an Officers residence c.1890s and a single storey weatherboard cottage of c.1900 erected opposite Gunshot Alley. Twentieth century structures include single storey buildings and structures dating from WW1, WW2 and the post war era. The irregularly shaped asphalt parade ground utilises part of battery A83 as the site for the ceremonial Flagpole. Notable buildings include - Hospital buildings 1914-1918, which together represent a single storey purpose-built weatherboard and corrugated galvanised iron military hospital, include Buildings 24, 21, 23, 15, 13, 29, 26, 27, 28, 3, 4 and 5. -Barracks style accommodation c.1918 includes a single storey brick barracks and the associated brick kitchen in the Federation style. (Buildings 54, 55) - Weatherboard buildings associated with the Inter War, Second World War and Post War periods include the Duty Room (A1). Buildings 38, 34, 32, 30, 9, 12 and 11 . 4. 30 Terminal Squadron ( Register No. 103339) includes the following significant structures. a c.1890 corrugated iron, paired gable roofed shed (Building B1) used to house artillery; a corrugated asbestos cement HQ building of c.1918 (Building B4); a range of weatherboard structures including the All Ranks Club (Building B3 c.1940), Orderly Room (Building B13) and a small weatherboard Gardeners shed/cottage associated with the operation of battery B42. Stores Buildings B16 and B17 erected c.1918 appear to have been associated with the military hospital of 1914-18. Supporting buildings include a range of buildings in brick, corrugated galvanised iron and weatherboard. 5. Chowder Bay Submarine Miners Barracks (Register No. 2876) was constructed from 1890-93 to provide accommodation, storage and operational facilities for the NSW Submarine Corps. The complex developed as a series of terraces connecting Chowder Bay Road with the wharf on the western, sheltered side of the headland. The complex is listed in the RNE at . 6. Navy Refuelling Depot and Caretakers Cottage (Register No. 103337) comprises 2 (in use) fuel tanks and 3 1930s roofed storage tanks (Tanks 3, 4 & 5) with associated pumps, fire fighting equipment and a 1930s brick Naval Caretakers Cottage in the prevailing Functionalist style, linked to an off-shore refuelling facility. The roofed storage tanks are the first large-scale example of camouflage in Australia. 7. Commonwealth Avenue Defence Housing (Register No. 103341) A group of Defence housing erected from the 1930s-1980s, which illustrates the characteristics of housing types provided for Defence personnel. Whilst the group as a whole has some historical significance only two are above the threshold for the RNE. -Number 5 Commonwealth Avenue erected as Officers Quarters c.1935 in brick and tile in the prevailing Art Deco style -Former Navy Cottage of the Riley-Newsum prefabricated type imported in the 1950s to meet the Commonwealth's demand for housing. 8. Middle Head Road Defence Housing Eight Navy Cottages on Middle Head Road are representative examples of prefabricated Riley-Newsum houses manufactured in Britain in the early 1950s. This group of 8 has been reclad externally in Hardiplank. The associated group of masonry housing, MQ1101-1107, on the opposite side of Middle Head Road, was developed in the 1960s. Whilst the housing has some historical significance in illustrating the development and provision of housing types it is considered to be below the threshold for the RNE. 9. 10 Terminal Regiment Headquarters and AUSAID Training Centre Precinct (Register No. 103342) The AUSAID Training Centre, formerly Middle Head Barracks, comprises some 15 vernacular timber and corrugated galvanised iron huts (Buildings in the range 1-21) characteristic of Defence barracks style accommodation in the 1939-45 period, known generally as type P-1 huts. As a group the huts comprise the largest surviving complex of standard weatherboard gabled P-1 type huts on the headland areas and are important for their use as an Italian POW camp. The 10 Terminal Regiment complex comprises a range of buildings including three weatherboard huts (Buildings 1, 14 and 18), formerly part of the adjacent former Middle Head Barracks. The School of Military Intelligence commenced in 1959 was housed primarily in red-brick buildings with green Marseilles tiled hipped roofs reflecting in general the influence of the Inter War Stripped Classical style employed at HMAS Penguin. Buildings of particular importance include Headquarters Building (1), Workshop and Rear Annexe (6 & 7), Officers Mess (2 and 3), and the later Other Ranks Accommodation (Barracks 1, 2, 3) comprising three 3-storey weatherboard dormitory buildings. 9. HMAS Penguinb Naval Base (Register No. 103327) comprises significant groups of weatherboard and brick buildings in the bush setting of the Middle Harbour foreshores. The main complex comprises 12 buildings, including hospital and barracks style accommodation of 1-3 storeys with a nautical character constructed in brick with green Marseilles tiled hipped roofs. This group provides the dominant character of the site and includes: the Gatehouse (1); Conference Hall (2); Admin Support Centre (3); Naval Stores (4); Naval Hospital (8); Naval Police School (26); Accommodation (28); Senior Sailors Accommodation and Mess (17); Ward Room/Officers Mess (20); Administration (19); Information Technology (18); and Junior Sailors Quarters (16). Other structures include the Naval Flagstaff and the Sewer Vent Stack and Swimming Pool, formerly part of the Mosman Sewage Treatment Works. The waterfront areas include a group of weatherboard single storey gabled buildings with green Marseilles tiled roofs, amongst the earliest erected on the site, associated with the jetty complex. Of particular significance are the Diving School (46) and Workshops, Stores and Administration (47, 48). 10. Golf Clubhouse The former Mosman golf clubhouse (Register No. 103293) constructed in sandstone in the California Bungalow style in 1925 has been adapted for Defence use but retains its essential form intact as the focus of the former 9-hole golf course. The grassed area in front of the clubhouse provides an appropriate setting. |
| History: |
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BACKGROUND Military fortifications and defence reserves have played a major role in the development of Sydney Harbour's landscapes. Middle Head has featured in paintings of the Sydney Heads by many artists including Augustus Earle c.1825 and in photographic works by Holtermann c.1875, recording gun batteries and fortifications. Consequently Middle Head and Georges Heights have been a significant part of the cultural and social life of the colony of NSW, as part of the backdrop to the harbour and as the site of major defence works. The defences of Port Jackson and Sydney Harbour have developed in phases subject to changes in defence policy. HISTORY 1788-1839 During the early 1800s any threat to Sydney was seen as coming from the sea. Following a warning from Sir Joseph Banks, during the the Napoleonic Wars, Governor King constructed a battery between Georges Heights and Middle Head in 1802 which remained the most forward battery in Sydney's defences until the 1850s. This site was chosen for its strategic position at the entrance to Port Jackson. The disadvantage of the site was its isolation and distance from Sydney. Middle Head was occupied for uses other than defence as early as 1815 with Governor Macquarie attempting unsuccessfully to form an Aboriginal settlement on Middle Head. By 1828 the area was described as King Bungaree's Farm, with King Bungaree having been appointed Chief of the Broken Bay tribes by the Governor. The venture appears to have failed. In 1839 the British government admitted that the harbour was defenceless, following the arrival of two American warships at night, and a number of reports into Harbour defences were commissioned. 1839-1877 A report by Captain G Barney led to the construction of defences on Pinchgut Island (now Fort Denison) and Bradley's Head but this work ceased in 1842. The first comprehensive plan for the defence of Sydney Harbour, made by Lt Colonel J Gordon in 1845, recognised the defence potential of the headlands near the entrance to Port Jackson. The 'Gordon' scheme was implemented from 1847 establishing a two line defensive system with the inner line at Sydney Cove with Georges Heights and Middle Head as part of an outer line of defence. The Gordon scheme recognised the limitations of armaments of the day with their limited range. The Crimean War of 1853-56 accelerated the selection of sites for defensive purposes. Sites selected at Middle Head and Inner South Head were designed to command the entrance to the harbour, the shipping channels and the area to seawards of the Heads. These outer works ceased in 1855 with the arrival of Sir William Denison, the new Governor of NSW. The experience of the American Civil War had restated the need for heavier weapons and more secure gun emplacements; the armoured casemate principle was to be used on open sites with circular gun pits in more protected areas. In 1855 Denison submitted a report which stressed that the inner defences were more important and works were concentrated in the inner harbour when Fort Denison was completed. To assist in navigation of the important shipping channel between Middle Head and the Sow and Pigs Reef two obelisks were constructed above Obelisk Bay in 1858. In 1862 the British government resolved that colonies with responsible government should bear the cost of their own defence. During the 1860s a Royal Commission investigated the state of the colony's defences. By 1870 the last British (Imperial) line regiment had left Australia. The Defence Committee of September 1870 recommended the construction of batteries on Middle Head and Georges Heights as well as Bradley's Head, Steel Point and South Head. The 1870-1877 program concentrated on an outer line of defences with batteries erected on Middle Head and Georges Heights as well as South Head. A major development in 1872 was the formation of the Engineers Corps of NSW, which was to assist in the works. Plans were drawn up in the Office of the Colonial Architect James Barnet, with construction starting in 1871. Executed by 1876, this work included the construction of military roads. At Georges Heights three separate batteries (B42, A83 and A84) were commenced between 1871 and 1888. A new Rock Casemate Battery constructed 1872 -76 near the shoreline at Georges Heights was designed to operate in conjunction with the batteries at Georges Heights and a series of booms and submarine mine fields. The Outer Middle Head Battery was commenced in January 1871 with at least 8 gun pits completed by 1874 with the Inner Middle Head Battery functional by 1881. Between 1871 and 1890 the barracks area of Middle Head was developed and a defensive moat constructed across the headland separating the gun batteries from the barracks. To support the development of defences, Artillery Barracks, designed by the office of the Colonial Architect, were erected in 1873 at Georges Heights. The lower barracks for Submarine Miners at Chowder Bay was equipped with outhouses and by 1877 Officers Quarters were in place. Fortifications were of necessity connected by roads; the road to Middle Head, Military Road, was commenced in 1870 and finished by 1871. These military roads allowed guns to be rolled to the batteries and provided strategic access between batteries and barracks. These roads also became, in part, thoroughfares for the area from the 1870s, when developer Richard Harnett organised the formation of many of the roads of Mosman. 1877-1900 British fortifications expert General Sir William Jervois RE (Royal Engineers) was appointed governor of South Australia in 1877. Sir William Jervois and Lt Colonel Peter Scratchley inspected each colony's defences leading to the Jervois-Scratchley reports, which were to form the basis of defence planning in Australia for the next 30 years. The reorganisation of the batteries on Middle Head and Georges Head and South Head between 1885 and 1890 resulted from their reports in which the need for better designed defences and for torpedoes or submarine mines was stressed. In 1878 submarine mine observing stations were constructed on Green Point, Inner South Head and Georges Heights. Recommendations made 1877-1885 included the construction of an Armoured Casemate Battery in 1882 at Georges Head, completed in 1886 under the direction of Colonel Scratchley. By 1889 areas of Middle and Georges Heads were clearly identified as resumed by the Crown for military purposes. Technical developments in the 1880s resulted in changes to the fortifications of Sydney Harbour, including the use of telephone lines in the late 1880s, and the construction of a Submarine Miners Observing Station in 1890 at Chowder Bay. The Submarine Mining facility was completed in 1893. The Hidden Guns of the 1880s were generally replaced in the 1890s, as a matter of policy, by Quick Firing Guns mounted in deep open concrete emplacements. Such emplacements were constructed on Georges Heights and Middle (and South) Head, remaining the standard form until after World War Two. The office of Colonial Architect James Barnet was responsible for much of the new works. The struggle between Lieut. Colonel de Wolski of the NSW Engineers and James Barnet in 1886, over defects in execution and design, was to lead to Barnet's retirement. The development of defence facilities was mirrored by the subdivision of land north of Military Road in the 1880s. By July 1884 the North Shore Ferry Co was providing a regular ferry service to the city. This active subdivision continued in the 1890s with the Municipality of Mosman established in 1893. Balmoral Beach had been dedicated as a Public Reserve in 1878. During the 1880s and 1890s the headland areas provided recreational and viewing areas. 1900-1945 By 1903 the most important defence works in Sydney Harbour were concentrated on Georges Heights, Middle Head and at South Head. Supporting structures at Georges Heights by 1903 included Sergeant Majors quarters, cool store, artificers workshop, Quarter Masters store, machine gun shed, women's wash house, huts, an asphalt (drill) yard, four married quarters, a married sergeants quarters, a laboratory for filling cartridges and an artillery store. Battery A84 stayed as a firing station for the minefield, while battery A83 kept its 6 inch pneumatic disappearing guns. Two other batteries were decommissioned. Towards the end of WW1 a weatherboard military hospital was established at Georges Heights. In 1906 the 'pleasure ground', on the Clifton Estate at Chowder Bay, was purchased by Sydney Ferries Ltd, and a circular, offshore swimming pool added with space for over 3,000 spectators. This facility was mirrored by the 1904 Balmoral Beach 'Mosman Septic Tank', which in 1927 was converted into a swimming pool. The pool was utilised by the Cavill family until 1940 when resumed by the Navy and incorporated into HMAS Penguin. The Cavill family are reputed to have developed the 'Australian Crawl' swimming stroke. In 1923 two portions of military land were leased to Mosman Council and Mosman Golf Club for public recreation. The golf club on 59 acres was a Clifton Gardens initiative having been founded in the Clifton Gardens Hotel at Chowder Bay. A nine-hole golf course was cleared and a clubhouse built for the 300 members overlooking Middle Harbour. The club operated until 1940, when Defence resumed the site for the development of HMAS Penguin. The Submarine Miners Corps was disbanded in 1922 although Battery A84 remained a fortress command post until 1934 at Georges Heights. Other developments included the installation of anti torpedo boat guns during the 1920s following the re-armament of Singapore by Britain. This type of gun was also mounted on Georges Head and Obelisk Point to guard the anti-submarine net between Green Point and Georges Head. The only fixed armaments at Georges Heights in 1939 were two 6 inch guns at battery B42 but these were moved to South Head. Defences were in general however, improved during the Second World War when Middle Head and Georges Heights were important barracks and administration centres for the military, as well as an active part of coastal fortifications. Barracks complexes were constructed at Middle Head and Georges Heights at this time. Additional rapid-fire guns were erected at Obelisk Point and Georges Head to provide covering fire for the Anti-Submarine Boom from Green Point to Georges Head. Similar guns were also erected at Inner Middle Head to cover the northern channel defined by the Sow and Pigs Reef. In 1942 the Navy's refuelling storage tanks at Chowder bay, erected in the 1930s, were, with a similar facility on Garden Island, camouflaged by the erection of pitched roofs above the tanks. The only significant defence action in the harbour was the Japanese midget submarine raid in 1943. Radio monitoring equipment at the Middle Head Barracks intercepted the transmissions of the submarines alerting defence forces to the attack. Defence installations on Middle and Georges Heads failed to identify the attackers, although one of the submarines was caught in the anti-submarine net. HMAS Penguin, commissioned in 1942, has continued to operate on the northern edge of the headland since 1945. In 1945 Italian prisoners of war were housed in the barracks above Obelisk Bay. 1945-PRESENT From 1946, with the end of the war, the almost obsolete military fortifications and barracks were rationalised. One group of barracks was handed over to the Department of Foreign Affairs to house the newly formed School of Pacific Administration, intended to train officers to work as administrators in the Pacific and Asian Islands. This school (AUSAID) played an important role in International Affairs over the next 40 years. In 1948 the Military Board decided to maintain a regular coastal artillery unit when Obelisk Section were returned to full serviceability. In 1948 the Police requested use of the area for its wireless receiving station. The School of Military Intelligence took over part of Middle Head Barracks, constructing a barracks and teaching complex and using the fortifications for their training activities during the Vietnam War of the 1960s. However, from 1962 the role of the coastal artillery defences was considered to be outmoded. In 1965 the army constructed houses for personnel along Middle Head Road at Georges Heights, adding to the prefabricated Riley-Newsum type houses erected in the 1950s, for the Navy, near HMAS Penguin. Between the 1960s and 1980s new single storey houses were also erected for Defence personnel on Commonwealth Avenue. The HMAS Penguin Naval Base at Balmoral developed rapidly with training schools established from 1951 to 1964 when it was the main submarine base in Sydney harbour. In support of these developments new refuelling facilities were erected at the Navy Refuelling Depot, including steel oil tanks and a new caretakers cottage. The Diving and Hydrographic Survey teams have had a long and close relationship with the base and continue to utilise the 'septic tank' pools. The increasing role of recreation in the defence forces was expressed in the construction of the Georges Heights and Naval ovals. In 1979 parts of the headland were included in the newly formed Sydney Harbour National Park. The transfer excluded the Naval Base, HMAS Penguin, the 10th Terminal Squadron buildings, the School of Pacific Administration (AusAid Training Centre), the Army Maritime School at Chowder Bay and the majority of the Army headquarters training command and accommodation facilities at Georges Heights. By the 1980s military units had been dismantled or converted to other uses, with the relocation of all Defence operations imminent. |
| Condition and Integrity: |
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CONDITION AND INTEGRITY Historic: The range of historic places and their integrity and condition was documented by Godden Mackay Logan (1998) for Defence as part of the Georges Heights and MIddle Head Defence Site Heritage Assessment. Specific details of the condition and integrity of each structure is beyond the scope of this assessment. |
| Location: |
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About 60ha, at Georges Heights and Clifton Gardens, comprising generally the Department of Defence lands at Georges Heights/Middle Head, and in particular: (1) the whole of the property Headquarters 8th Brigade, Cross Street, Clifton Gardens, and (2) the whole of the Department of Defence land, Middle Head Road, Georges Heights, other than 1st Commando Company HQ and adjacent defence housing areas on Markham Close and at the end of Dominion Crescent, being the area to the north and west of a line consisting of the rear (south) boundaries of defence housing blocks to the north of Georges Heights Oval and extending westerly from Middle Head Road to the southern most point of Lot 19 DP831153, then south easterly via the alignment of the south west boundary of Lot 19 to its intersection with AMG easting 338280mE (approximate AMG point 38305452), then directly south westerly to the intersection of the western boundary of Lot 202 with AMG easting 338200mE (approximate AMG point 38255445). |
| Bibliography: |
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Godden Mackay Logan, Georges Heights and Middle Head Defence Site Heritage Assessment, December 1998 GC Wilson, 1985, Sydney Harbour Fortifications Archival Study, NSW NP & WS, Sydney Royal Australian Artillery Historical Society Inc., 1993, NSW WW2 Fortifications Study for NSW NP & WS, Sydney Design 5 Architects, 1996, Conservation Management Plan A83, A84, B42 & C9a Batteries and Tunnels Georges Heights, Sydney, for Department of Defence. DECOS Building Surveying Services, 1993, NPWS Defence Heritage Study -Stage 1, Structural Condition Assessment reports, Armoured Casemate Georges Head, First draft. NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service 1998, Plan of Management for Sydney Harbour National Park. ERIN, 2000, Species Data held by Environmental Resources Information Network (Internally held data-sets). D Gojak, 1985, Sydney Harbour Fortifications Study for NSW NP & WS Middle and Georges Heads Fortifications Conservation Plan, D Gojak NPWS Historical Archaeologist, Cultural Heritage Conservation Division 1993 ( an NEGP project) NPWS Middle Head Fortifications Structural Condition Report 1990 Mosman Council LEP1 D Gojak, Defending the Indefensible: an archaeological approach to Sydney's historic coastal defences. Summary of lecture to ASHA. School of Landscape Architecture, University of NSW, 1995, Middle Head Heritage Study Mosman Heritage Study, Travis and Partners Pty Ltd, 1988 for the Municipality of Mosman, Sydney National Trust of Australia (NSW), Georges Heights bushland survey and regeneration plan for the Department of Defence, National Trust of Australia (NSW), Sydney, October 1992 D Benson and J Howell, Taken for granted: the bushland of Sydney and its suburbs, Kangaroo Press in association with Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, 1995 (paperback edition) Headland Preservation Group Inc., Nomination of the Middle Head and Georges Heights site for listing on the Register of the National Estate, Headland Preservation Group Inc., Mosman, October 1997 Bonyhady Tim, Rock of Ages pp104-105 in Bulletin with Newsweek, The Bulletin December 19 2000. |
Report Produced: Wed Feb 10 01:39:17 2010