Causeway Bay View from ICC 201105 cropped

Eastern part of Hong Kong Island cropped

Kellett Island is a former island of

Victoria Harbour Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbor, 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 instrume ...

, off East Point in Hong Kong. It is now connected to

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island is an 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/km2, . The island had a population of a ...

Causeway Bay Causeway Bay is an area and a bay on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, straddling the border of the Eastern and the Wan Chai districts. It is a major shopping, leisure and cultural centre in Hong Kong, with a number of major shopping centres. Th ...

following

land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamat ...

in 1969. It is located in

Wan Chai District Wan Chai District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. Of the four on Hong Kong Island, it is north-central, and had 152,608 residents in 2011, a fall from 167,146 residents in 2001. The district has the second-highest educationally quali ...

Facilities

Map of Hong Kong in First Convention of Peking in 1860

The main buildings of the

Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club The Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club is a Hong Kong watersports club for sailing, rowing and paddling. History In 1849 the ''Victoria Regatta Club'' was formed and later absorbed into the ''Hong Kong Boating Clu''b which, in 1889, was in turn ...

are located on the former Kellett Island. The former island and the reclaimed land form the western boundary of the

Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter is a typhoon shelter located in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, between the Hong Kong Island entrance of Cross-Harbour Tunnel on Kellett Island and Island Eastern Corridor. It was the first typhoon shelter in Hong Kong. It is ...

. The southern entrance to the

Cross-Harbour Tunnel The Cross-Harbour Tunnel (abbreviated ''CHT'' or ''XHT'') is the first tunnel in Hong Kong built underwater. It consists of two steel road tunnels each with two lanes constructed using the single shell immersed tube method. It is the earl ...

is located on the Island.

History

The island was ceded to Britain together with

. A small fort was built on it in 1841 for the protection of the eastern section of Victoria Harbour, and a battery with three cannons was added in 1854.Brief Information on Proposed Grade 3 Items. Item #737
The island was renamed in the 1860s (some sources mention 1842) after the naval officer Sir

Henry Kellett Vice Admiral Sir Henry Kellett, (2 November 1806 – 1 March 1875) was a British naval officer and explorer. Career Born at Clonacody in Tipperary County, Ireland, on 2 November 1806, Kellett joined the Royal Navy in 1822. He spent three yea ...

Kellett Bay Kellett Bay (), or Kai Lung Wan () is a bay on southwestern Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong, to the southeast of Waterfall Bay. The pronunciation of ''Wan'' () in ''Kai Lung Wan'' in the Cantonese language is like the one in (as in Cheung Sha Wan ...

and

Mount Kellett Mount Kellett () is a mountain on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It was likely named after British Royal Navy Vice Admiral Henry Kellett, the captain of HMS Starling in the 19th century. A private hospital Matilda Hospital is located at the foot ...

were also named after him. After

Kowloon Peninsula The Kowloon Peninsula is a peninsula that forms the southern part of the main landmass in the territory of Hong Kong, alongside Victoria Harbour and facing toward Hong Kong Island. The Kowloon Peninsula and the area of New Kowloon are collec ...

was ceded to Britain in 1860, the defense position of Kellett Island declined in importance, and it was used by British armed forces for ammunition and gunpowder storage.Consultancy Agreement No. NEX/2213. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Study for Shatin to Central Link - Hung Hom to Admiralty Section
Chapter 4: Cultural Heritage
an
Appendix 4.1 Cultural Heritage Baseline Report
, pp.4-10, 78. MTR Corporation Limited The island remained for the use of the Navy until 1938, when the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, formerly located in

North Point North Point is a mixed-use urban area in the Eastern District of Hong Kong. Located in the northeastern part of Hong Kong Island, the area is named after a cape between Causeway Bay and Tsat Tsz Mui that projects toward Kowloon Bay. Locat ...

, moved to Kellett Island. The clubhouse was built in 1939 on the foundations of the old Naval Powder Magazine.History of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club
/ref> The new premises were formally opened on 26 October 1940 by the then Acting Governor, Lieutenant General Sir E. F. Norton. After the

fall of Hong Kong The Battle of Hong Kong (8–25 December 1941), also known as the Defence of Hong Kong and the Fall of Hong Kong, was one of the first battles of the Pacific War in World War II. On the same morning as the attack on Pearl Harbor, forces of th ...

in 1941, occupying Japanese forces kept military supplies there, including fuel, gunpowder, artillery and ammunition. After the War, the Yacht Club was reopened there on 17 September 1945. A

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tr ...

completed in 1952 was built to give access to the island by means other than water. Following reclamation work in the 1960s and the completion of the Cross-Harbour Tunnel in 1972, Kellett Island was connected to Causeway Bay and its original outline disappeared, although the name remained. In October 1991, a pottery jar containing large quantity of Chinese copper coins was discovered at the island by the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club. The coins were dated to Sui,

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) ...

and

Song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...

dynasties (589–1279). The coins and the pottery jar were then handed over by the club to the

Antiquities and Monuments Office The Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) was established in 1976 under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance to protect and preserve Hong Kong's historic monuments. Housed in the Former Kowloon British School, the AMO is responsible for ide ...

.Kellett Island Site of Archaeological Interest
/ref>

References

{{coord, 22.284153, 114.182303, display=title Archaeological sites in Hong Kong Causeway Bay Wan Chai District