| Photographs: | None |
|---|---|
| List: | Register of the National Estate |
| Class: | Historic |
| Legal Status: | Registered (20/05/2003) |
| Place ID: | 103327 |
| Place File No: | 1/13/026/0032 |
| Statement of Significance: |
|---|
|
HMAS Penguin comprising the Gatehouse (1); Conference Hall (2); Administration Support Centre (3); Naval Stores (4); Naval Hospital (8); Naval Police School (26); Accommodation Block (28); Senior Sailors Accommodation and Mess (17); Ward Room/Officers Mess (20); Administration Building (19); Information Technology (18); Junior Sailors Quarters (16);Medical Training Facility and Store (12, 13); the Naval Flagstaff (37); the Sewer Vent Stack (55) and Swimming Pool (54), formerly part of the Mosman Sewage Treatment Works; and the waterfront areas including the jetty complex, Diving School (46) and Workshops, Stores and Administration (47, 48) is significant as the focus
of Naval training and hospitalisation in Sydney Harbour since 1940. From 1951-1964 the base was the main submarine base in Sydney Harbour, reinforcing its strategic role and importance in naval defence. The growth of leisure and recreation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the establishment of Mosman Municipal Council in 1893, is illustrated by the former Sewer Vent Stack and the former Mosman Septic Tank used as a swimming pool by the Cavill family during the 1920s and which remains in use as part of HMAS Penguin. (Criterion A.4) (Australian Historic Themes: 4.2 Supplying urban services, 7.7 Defending Australia, 7.7.1 Providing for the common defence, 7.7.3 Going to war) HMAS Penguin is of exceptional interest in illustrating the design of a purpose built Naval training and hospitalisation complex erected 1940-45 during the Second World War. (Criterion B.2) The primary group of buildings, erected 1942-45 in the Inter-War Stripped Classical Style, display a consistent stylistic theme influenced by nautical features and, united by similar brickwork and green terracotta tiled roofs, are both important visual elements and landmark features in their own right, in a cultural landscape in which trees, gardens and topography contribute to the significance of the cultural landscape. The Sewer Vent Stack is a minor landmark in Hunters Bay (Criterion E.1) HMAS Penguin is highly valued by the Mosman community for its symbolic, cultural and social associations. (Criterion G.1) |
| Official Values: Not Available |
| Description: |
|
Defensive use of Middle Head and Georges Heights created a
cultural landscape, with pockets of native vegetation, centred on a military
road system. The establishment of
HMAS Penguin in 1940 continued this process, linking with the military road
system and effectively utilising Hunters Bay on the north side of the
headlands. The Naval base comprises significant groups of weatherboard and brick buildings in the bush setting of the Middle Harbour foreshores. A large number of the buildings were designed with a consistent stylistic theme. 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, which are landmarks in a cultural landscape seen from Balmoral. This group provides the dominant character of the site and includes: the Gatehouse (1); Conference Hall (2); Administration Support Centre (3); Naval Stores (4); Naval Hospital (8); Naval Police School (26); Accommodation Block (28); Senior Sailors Accommodation and Mess (17); Ward Room/Officers Mess (20); Administration Building (19); Information Technology (18); and Junior Sailors Quarters (16). The Administration Building features a sandstone architrave to the main entrance with carved coat of arms. Other structures and buildings include the Medical Training Facility and Store (12 and 13), the Naval Flagstaff (37) and the Sewer Vent Stack (55) and Swimming Pool (54), formerly part of the Mosman Sewage Treatment Works. The Sewer Vent Stack is a minor landmark in Hunters Bay. The waterfront areas include a jetty and a group of weatherboard single storey gabled buildings with green Marseilles tiled roofs amongst the earliest erected on the site by the Navy. Of particular significance are the Diving School (46) and Workshops, Stores and Administration (47, 48). The Navy Oval, closely associated with HMAS Penguin but now managed under agreement by Mosman Council, reflects the development of naval facilities during peacetime in the post-war years. The careful attention given to the landscape elements on the site, including gardens, lawns and verges and footpaths, contributes to the overall ordered character of the base. None of the buildings have been seen internally. |
| History: |
|
Defence reserves have played a major role in the development
of Sydney Harbour's landscapes. During
the early 1800s any threat to Sydney was seen as coming from the sea. Following a warning from Sir Joseph
Banks, during the Napoleonic Wars, Governor King constructed a battery between
Georges Head (south of 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. 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 for major defence works. The defences of Port Jackson and Sydney Harbour have developed in response to changes in defence policy. 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 and by 1870 the last British (Imperial) line regiment had left Australia. In September 1870, a Defence Committee recommended the construction of batteries at Middle Head and Georges Heights as well as Bradley's Head. By 1871 the Military Road to Middle Head, including Governors Road and Old Fort Road, and branch roads to the lower part of Georges Head and to Bradley's Head, had been completed following the recommendations of the Defence Committee. The area of HMAS Penguin was dedicated for defence purposes by 1870 as part of the Middle Head and Georges Heights headlands, which were strategic in defending the approaches to Sydney Harbour through the Sydney Heads. Between 1885 and 1890 batteries, barracks and fortifications on Middle Head and Georges Heights were reorganised following the reports of General Sir William Jervois RE and Lt Colonel Peter Scratchley. By 1889, land at Mosman had been subdivided for housing during the boom in Sydney's suburban areas, primarily under Richard Harnett. However, the military road system of Middle Head and Georges Heights continued to link all phases in the development of defensive measures at Middle Head and Georges Heights for Port Jackson and Sydney Harbour. 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 in addition to their defensive role. Until 1901 Defence was the responsibility of each colony, but in 1901, following Federation, defensive works in New South Wales came under Commonwealth administration. By 1903 the most important defence works in Sydney Harbour were concentrated on Georges Heights, Middle Head and at South Head. 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 (including the future site of HMAS Penguin) 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 as a focus of naval training and hospitalisation. From 1946, with the end of the war, military fortifications and barracks at Middle Head and Georges Heights 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. 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. The Naval Base at Balmoral developed rapidly with training schools established from 1951 to 1964 when it was the main submarine base in Sydney Harbour. The Diving and Hydrographic Survey teams have had a long and close relationship with the base and continue to utilise the 'septic tank' pools. In 1979 parts of the headland areas previously dedicated for defensive purposes were included in the newly formed Sydney Harbour National Park. HMAS Penguin remains in use by the Navy, the remaining sections of the Defence Site at Middle Head and Georges Heights being transferred to the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust in 2001. |
| Condition and Integrity: |
|
Condition: The buildings and fabric comprising HMAS Penguin are in good condition as part of an operational naval base. Refer to the Heritage Assessment by Godden Mackay completed in December 1998. (Georges Heights and Middle Head Defence Site Heritage Assessment 1998 for the Department of Defence) Integrity: Significant buildings and fabric comprising HMAS Penguin have received little adaptation. Refer to the Heritage Assessment by Godden Mackay completed in December 1998. (Georges Heights and Middle Head Defence Site Heritage Assessment 1998 for the Department of Defence) |
| Location: |
| About 16ha, Middle Head Road, Georges Heights, comprising the whole of Lot 201 DP1022020. |
| Bibliography: |
|
Godden Mackay, Georges Heights and Middle Head Defence Site Heritage Assessment, prepared for the Department of Defence, 1998. Mosman LEP Review 1996 |
Report Produced: Wed Feb 10 02:42:47 2010