Murray Battery was an

artillery battery In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to fac ...

located on

Battery Path Battery Path () is a pedestrian-only footpath located beneath Government Hill in Central, Hong Kong. Named after Murray Battery, it stretches from Queen's Road Central to Garden Road. The path is noted for many historical landmarks situated ...

, beneath

Government Hill The Government Hill is a hill in Central, Hong Kong, bounded by upper section of Upper Albert Road on the south, Queen's Road Central north, Garden Road east, and Glenealy, west of Hong Kong Island. The hill has been the administrative ...

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. Named after

Sir George Murray Sir George Murray (6 February 1772 – 28 July 1846) was a British soldier and politician from Scotland. Background and education Murray was born in Perth, Scotland, the second son of Sir William Murray, of Ochtertyre, 5th Baronet (see Murra ...

, it was built in 1841, shortly after the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

took possession of

, and served to protect the colonial government's headquarters. It was demolished in the 1950s and replaced with the

Former Central Government Offices The Former Central Government Offices (also the Government Headquarters), now called Justice Place, is an office building complex that formerly housed most of the major offices of the Hong Kong Government. The complex is located in Cent ...

History

During the

First Opium War The First Opium War (), also known as the Opium War or the Anglo-Sino War was a series of military engagements fought between Britain and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of the ...

, the British occupied Hong Kong in 1841 and one year later, the territory was ceded to them in the

Treaty of Nanking The Treaty of Nanjing was the peace treaty which ended the First Opium War (1839–1842) between Great Britain and the Qing dynasty of China on 29 August 1842. It was the first of what the Chinese later termed the Unequal Treaties. In the ...

. The new administration chose the site around

to build its headquarters and defences. The coastal fortification consisted of five

coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of c ...

positions that overlooked and guarded

Victoria Harbour Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on South China Sea were instrumental i ...

in 1882 (however, due to land reclamation, the site is no longer situated on the coastline). These were removed in the late 19th century, due to the military's relocation and development of

artillery batteries In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to facil ...

in more obscure and outlying areas in

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island is an Islands and peninsulas of Hong Kong, island in the southern part of Hong Kong. Known colloquially and on road signs simply as Hong Kong, the island has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km ...

—namely the Lei Yue Mun Fort built in 1887. Prior to 1856, Murray Battery also marked the limits of the city's

street light A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution ...

ing; all roads east of the battery were not illuminated. However, the site of the battery still existed until the 1950s, when the colonial government decided to redevelop the area in order to build a new headquarters building that would consolidate all government departments in one place. As a result, the battery was demolished and the new (now former)

Central Government Offices The Central Government Complex has been the headquarters of the Government of Hong Kong since 2011. Located at the Tamar site, the complex comprises the Central Government Offices, the Legislative Council Complex and the Office of the Chie ...

(CGO) was built in its place, with construction being completed in 1959. The West Wing of the CGO now occupies the site of the battery. Today, a replica cannon located near the CGO pays tribute to Murray's Battery.

References

External links

1860 picture of Murray Battery
{{Portal bar, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, War, British Empire Former buildings and structures in Hong Kong Forts in Hong Kong Military of Hong Kong under British rule Artillery batteries

History

See also

References

External links