Fort Denison is a former penal site and defensive facility occupying a small island located north of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia.
Prior to European settlement, the island had the Aboriginal name Mat-te-wan-ye (sometimes Malleewonya). After the arrival of the first fleet in 1788, Governor Phillip and his Advocate General used the name Rock Island. Not long after the island became known as Pinchgut.
Once a 15 metre (49 ft) high sandstone rock, the island was flattened to provide sandstone for nearby Circular Quay by prisoners under the command of Captain George Barney.
Fortification of the island began in 1841, resumed in 1855 and was complete in 1857 ,on the 14th of November, as a defence against feared Russian invasion during the Crimean War. At this point the island gained its current name after Sir William Thomas Denison, Governor of New South Wales from 1855 to 1861.
The fortress features a distinctive Martello tower, the only one ever built in Australia and possibly the last one ever constructed by the British Empire. Construction used 8,000 tonnes of sandstone from nearby Kurraba Point, Neutral Bay. Walls in the tower are between 3.3 metres and 6.7 metres thick at the base and 2.7 metres thick at the top.
The gunroom on the tower still contains three 8-inch muzzle loading cannons which were positioned before construction was complete. The width of passages within the tower are too narrow to permit these to be removed. The three cannons were deemed obsolete due to two reasons:
The windows made for the cannons were too small to use the guns effectively. By the time the cannon was loaded the ship would have sailed past.
The Recoil effect was too powerful for the small room.
In May 1942, during a Japanese submarine attack on Sydney Harbour, Fort Denison was hit with some stray 5-inch shells from the American cruiser USS Chicago (CA-29) defending the harbour. The minor damage caused to the tower is still visible.
Management of the site was adopted by the National Parks and Wildlife Service in 1992, which has spent around A$2m conserving and upgrading the facilities. Significant contribution for the work was made by Origin Energy.
Following publication of a Conservation Plan, further renovation commenced in 1999 and was completed in 2001. The conservation and adaptive re-use of the Island was awarded the NSW Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) Conservation Award; a Commendation in the National RAIA Awards; and a National Trust Heritage Award in 2001.
Fort Denison is a former penal site and defensive facility occupying a small island located north of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia.
Prior to European settlement, the island had the Aboriginal name Mat-te-wan-ye (sometimes Malleewonya). After the arrival of the first fleet in 1788, Governor Phillip and his Advocate General used the name Rock Island. Not long after the island became known as Pinchgut.
Once a 15 metre (49 ft) high sandstone rock, the island was flattened to provide sandstone for nearby Circular Quay by prisoners under the command of Captain George Barney.
Fortification of the island began in 1841, resumed in 1855 and was complete in 1857 ,on the 14th of November, as a defence against feared Russian invasion during the Crimean War. At this point the island gained its current name after Sir William Thomas Denison, Governor of New South Wales from 1855 to 1861.
The fortress features a distinctive Martello tower, the only one ever built in Australia and possibly the last one ever constructed by the British Empire. Construction used 8,000 tonnes of sandstone from nearby Kurraba Point, Neutral Bay. Walls in the tower are between 3.3 metres and 6.7 metres thick at the base and 2.7 metres thick at the top.
The gunroom on the tower still contains three 8-inch muzzle loading cannons which were positioned before construction was complete. The width of passages within the tower are too narrow to permit these to be removed. The three cannons were deemed obsolete due to two reasons:
The windows made for the cannons were too small to use the guns effectively. By the time the cannon was loaded the ship would have sailed past.
The Recoil effect was too powerful for the small room.
In May 1942, during a Japanese submarine attack on Sydney Harbour, Fort Denison was hit with some stray 5-inch shells from the American cruiser USS Chicago (CA-29) defending the harbour. The minor damage caused to the tower is still visible.
Management of the site was adopted by the National Parks and Wildlife Service in 1992, which has spent around A$2m conserving and upgrading the facilities. Significant contribution for the work was made by Origin Energy.
Following publication of a Conservation Plan, further renovation commenced in 1999 and was completed in 2001. The conservation and adaptive re-use of the Island was awarded the NSW Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) Conservation Award; a Commendation in the National RAIA Awards; and a National Trust Heritage Award in 2001.
