The Bantry Bay Explosives Depot is a

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...

former explosives depot at

Killarney Heights Killarney Heights is a suburb of Northern Sydney, situated on Middle Harbour, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Killarney Heights is 12 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of ...

in the

Northern Beaches Council The Northern Beaches Council is a local government area located in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The council was formed on 12 May 2016 after the amalgamation of Manly, Pittwater and Warringa ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. It was built in 1915. The property is owned by the Office of Environment and Heritage, an

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of the

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...

. It was added to the

New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...

on 2 April 1999.

History

The

Bantry Bay Bantry Bay ( ga, Cuan Baoi / Inbhear na mBárc / Bádh Bheanntraighe) is a bay located in County Cork, Ireland. The bay runs approximately from northeast to southwest into the Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 3-to-4 km (1.8-to-2.5 mi ...

Explosives Magazine Complex was established in 1908 following advice from the "Report of the Committee of Inquiry" that explosives stored in Powder Magazines and Hulks in

Middle Harbour Middle Harbour (or ''Warrin ga''), a semi–mature tide dominated ria, drowned valley estuary, is the northern arm of Port Jackson, an inlet of the Tasman Sea located north of Sydney central business district on the coast of New South Wales, Au ...

should be moved to a location less susceptible to explosions.Latona Masterman & Associates, 1982 A total of 701 acres and 2 roads were allocated to for the storage facility. Work commenced in 1910 and in 1915 the new magazines at Bantry Bay were declared "Public Magazines". Figure illustrates the location of the Magazine Complex. The Bantry Bay Complex was extremely well designed, with tram tracks linking the recessed nine magazines to the Major Receiving Magazine and jetties on the waterfront. During its time of operation, the complex was a highly specialised and industrious port facility, utilising a variety of boats and specialist hand trolleys to transport goods between the boats and the magazines. The event of new technologies and resident pressure eventuated the official announcement of the closure of the Bantry Bay facility in June 1972. The Complex was closed in May 1974 and incorporated into the Davidson Park State Recreation Area. In 1992 Davison State Recreation Area was subsequently incorporated into

Garigal National Park The Garigal National Park is a protected national park that is located within the North Shore and Forest District regions of Sydney, New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The national park is situated approximately north of the Sydney cen ...

. Since operations have ceased at Bantry Bay, the care and maintenance of the buildings has been a major problem. Shortly after being included in Garigal National Park, a major stabilisation program was undertaken on the western seawall, but there were insufficient funds to complete the work.NPWS, 1998 Most of the buildings are in relatively sound condition, but have been subject to vandalism, and most of the fittings have been removed.

Description

The Bantry Bay Explosives Depot is a specialised industrial integrated complex designed for safe handling and cool storage of explosives. The main complex has magazines of different size and light variation in design detail but all with landing platform to tramway in excavated rock, double brick walls, parquet flooring (except fourteen and sixteen) and roofs to lift off under impact of explosion and with in built cooling systems watered from concrete dam. Some wharves are covered to minimise heat exposure. The shed has a door to the Harbour and a pontoon.

Heritage listing

The Bantry Bay Explosives Depot is a unique example of integrated handling and storage facilities for explosive materials. Bantry Bay Explosives Depot was listed on the

on 2 April 1999.

References

Bibliography

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Attribution