Fort Phillip was a

citadel A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. ...

style

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

constructed as part of the first defensive works of the penal settlement of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, located on Observatory Hill in the Sydney suburb of ,

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The fort has been demolished and the

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

heritage-listed site repurposed as the

Sydney Observatory The Sydney Observatory is a heritage-listed meteorological station, astronomical observatory, function venue, science museum, and education facility located on Observatory Hill at Upper Fort Street, in the inner city Sydney suburb of Millers P ...

History

Governor

John Hunter John Hunter may refer to: Politics *John Hunter (British politician) (1724–1802), British Member of Parliament for Leominster * John Hunter (Canadian politician) (1909–1993), Canadian Liberal MP for Parkdale, 1949–1957 *Sir John Hunter ( ...

ordered a fort to be built and Fort Phillip was commissioned in 1804 by the third

New South Wales Governor The governor of New South Wales is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, Governor-General of Australia at the national level, the governor ...

(in office 1800–1806),

Philip Gidley King Captain Philip Gidley King (23 April 1758 – 3 September 1808) was a Royal Navy officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New South Wales from 1800 to 1806. When the First Fleet arrived in January 1788, King was detai ...

, partly as a response to external threats such as a possible French attack in 1803 and partly due to the internal unrest from rebellious convicts reflected in Australia's only major convict rebellion at Castle Hill in March 1804. This was dubbed the

Battle of Vinegar Hill The Battle of Vinegar Hill (''Irish language, Irish'': ''Cath Chnoc Fhíodh na gCaor'') was a military engagement during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 on 21 June 1798 between a force of approximately 13,000 government troops under the command of ...

as most of the convict rebels were Irish. Windmill Hill (later Observatory Hill) was chosen as a fort location as it was the highest point above the colony, affording commanding views of the Harbour approaches from east and west, the

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

and

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

, surrounding country and of the entire town below. CC-By-SA">Creative_Commons_license.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Creative Commons license">CC-By-SA/nowiki> The fort was never fully completed and never fired a single shot in anger. A flagstaff was built in 1825 on the eastern wall of the fort, which sent messages to ships in the harbour and the signal station at Flagpole (structure)#Flagpoles">flagstaff was built in 1825 on the eastern wall of the fort, which sent messages to ships in the harbour and the signal station at

South Head. During 1847-48, a new Semaphore line">signal station A signal station is a form of Navigational aid, Aids to Navigation that is defined by the International Hydrographic Organization, IHO simply as "A signal station is a place on shore from which signals are made to ships at sea". While this broad de ...

, designed by the colonial architect Mortimer Lewis, was built to replace the flagstaff. The fort was subsequently demolished leaving the eastern rampart as the only remaining evidence of the fort's existence. Sydney Observatory was built on the site in 1858 to provide accurate time readings for the colony and to observe stars in the southern sky. The fort is commemorated in the name of

Fort Street High School Fort Street High School (FSHS) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, New South Wales government run, Mixed-sex school, co-educational, Selective school (New South Wales), academically selective, secondary school, secondary day school, ...

References

External links

Powerhouse Museum Sydney Observatory History

Sydney Observatory website
{{Barracks Batteries Bunkers and Forts in Sydney History of Sydney

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...

1803 establishments in Australia Military installations established in 1803

History

See also

References

External links