Beehive Casemate is a Colonial era fortification at Obelisk Bay, a small inslet within Sydney Harbour. Construction was part of the wider defensive network and took place from 1871-1874. The underground Casemate was one of the first to be locally designed and built after the withdrawal of British troops in 1870 as part of the Cardwell Reforms.
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| Three 3.7m by 2.1m high gunports in the cliff face |
The fortification is built into the natural cliff face and contains three domed chambers that were used as gun emplacements, each chamber having a gunport with fields of fire to fire towards Sydney heads. They were intended to fire on enemy ships as they navigated the passages around Sow and Pigs Reef, within the entrance to Sydney Harbour. The underground chambers are of brick and mortar and were built into the excavated cavities in the sandstone bedrock.
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| Excellent fields of fire towards the entrance to Sydney Harbour |
The Beehive Casemate was reinforced by another fortification above and adjacent to it, which would have added plunging fire to the direct waterline fire from the three Beehive guns.
An interesting piece of history. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Paul!
ReplyDeleteI was not aware of this emplacement over there in Sydney.
Is it open to the public regularly?
Cool piece of history.
ReplyDeleteLike Captain Darling I wasn't even aware this existed. I'll second the question about it being publicly accessible.
ReplyDeleteCaptain D & Millsy - its certainly a hidden gem!
ReplyDeleteTours are semi regular (ie monthly) as advertised here:
https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/guided-tours/beehive-casemate-tour