Fort Philip (Sydney)

Fort Philip was a citadel style fort constructed as part of the first defensive works of the penal settlement of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

History

Governor Hunter ordered a fort to be built on the site of Windmill Hill to defend the colony from rebellious convicts and possible French attack in 1803. The fort was never fully completed and never fired a single shot in anger.

A flagstaff was built in 1825 on the eastern wall of the fort, which sent messages to ships in the harbour and the signal station at Fort Denison and South Head.

In 1840 a new signal station, designed by the colonial architect Mortimer Lewis, was built to replace the flagstaff. The fort was subsequently demolished leaving the eastern rampart as the only remaining evidence of the fort's existence.

Sydney Observatory was built on the site in 1858 to provide accurate time readings for the colony and to observe stars in the southern sky.

References

Powerhouse Museum Sydney Observatory History
Sydney Observatory Website
Mark Dunn (2008). "Fort Phillip". Dictionary of Sydney. Dictionary of Sydney Trust. Retrieved 11 October 2015. [CC-By-SA]

Barracks, batteries, bunkers and forts, Sydney and surrounds

City of Sydney	Dawes Point Battery Fleet Base East Fort Denison Fort Macquarie Fort Philip Hyde Park Barracks Victoria Barracks

Greater Western and South Western Sydney	Bankstown Bunker Camp Warwick Holsworthy Barracks Ingleburn Army Camp Wallgrove Army Base 118th General Hospital

La Perouse, Malabar and Clovelly	Bare Island Fort Banks Henry Head Battery Malabar Battery

Mosman and Manly	Beehive Casemate Bradleys Head Fortification Complex Georges Head Battery Lower Georges Heights Commanding Position Middle Head Fortifications Shelly Battery Sydney Harbour anti-submarine boom net

Watsons Bay, Vaucluse and North Bondi	Ben Buckler Gun Battery Anti-motor torpedo boat defensive battery Steel Point Battery Signal Hill Battery

City of Wollongong	Breakwater Battery Drummond Battery Flagstaff Hill Fort Illowra Battery (Hill 60) Smiths Hill Fort

See also	Coastal defences of Australia during World War II Sydney Harbour defences

Coordinates: 33°51′34″S 151°12′17″E / 33.8595°S 151.2048°E / -33.8595; 151.2048

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, October 11, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.