Where??? I hear you ask? This is a location in the small harbour town of Lyttelton in New Zealand's South Island and in the late 19th Century was a military site. Now open to the public as a walking track, I thought I'd take a nosey while in the area and do some research into its military history.
Formerly known as Baker's Bay, the little cove's first permanent structure was the existing magazine block, which was originally built to house explosives for port and roading construction in 1874. A caretaker's cottage was erected above the magazine block at the same time. A small stone jetty was constructed to facilitate the arrival of materials from sea. A picture of the magazine block visible from the western bank of Baker's Bay in 1936, photographed from an on-site interpretation board, with the wreck of the coaling hulk Lota in the foreground. Note construction in support of the bay's military role on the hill above the magazine block.
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The building today, covered in graffiti and housing the Thorneycroft Torpedo Boat Museum.
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Within the cove a local shipbuilder, John Grubb constructed a workshop and slipway and soon received work from the government. The 1880s Russian scare saw British investment into defending the colony nationwide, and forts were constructed, underwater mines were laid and spar torpedo boats were ordered for the country's busiest ports. Four of these small craft were bought from Thorneycroft, London and were distributed to Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton and Port Chalmers and were numbered 168 to 171 and unofficially named Defender, Taiaroa, Waitemata, and Poneke respectively. Defender arrived in Lyttelton in December 1884 and was housed in a new facility in Baker's Bay, which was renamed Magazine Bay to fit with the magazine block's new purpose of housing ammunition for the defensive positions built around Lyttelton Harbour. A boat shed and slipway were constructed to house the small steam powered vessel in between Grubb's slipway and workshop in the narrow confines of the bay. In this image taken in 1897, Grubb's slipway can be seen to the right, with the schooner Croydon Lass in attendance, with his workshop roof just visible to the left between the torpedo boat shed and slipway.
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The bay today, with picnic tables sited where Grubb's workshop was located to the left and the torpedo boat shed to the right.
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Some five acres of land on Erskine Point was requisitioned by the government for military purposes and further up the hill from the magazine block, Fort Erskine was constructed in 1890. This comprised a gun emplacement, above-ground magazine, observation block and guard house. This was manned by the Naval Artillery Volunteers, or the "Navals" as they were called, who were barracked in specially built structures on site. By the turn of the century, both Fort Erskine and the Defender were verging on obsolescence and within a few years, both had been decommissioned, the torpedo boat being sold to a private buyer and the gun site abandoned as a station. Remaining on site until 1934, the seven-ton gun was tipped carelessly over the ramparts down the cliff and was cut up for scrap, while in the 1960s the council blew up the covered magazine, leaving the gun hard standing, external ramparts, and concrete walls around the magazine site. The image below is from an interpretation board and shows Fort Erskine's 7-inch gun still in place in 1934, with recently taken comparison image.
Gun emplacement I
Gun emplacement II
The torpedo boat suffered an equally ignominious fate, as its owner stripped it of valuables and dumped it on Purau Beach, on the opposite side of the harbour from Lyttelton where its dismembered remains were eventually bulldozed into the sand. Various buildings remained on site at Magazine Bay until one by one they were dismantled, leaving walls and steps as signs of their existence behind for curious members of the public who were given access to the site as a walking track. Following the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes, the site suffered damage and the surviving ramparts at Fort Erskine in particular deteriorated further. The curved concrete forward rampart in front of the gun platform gave way and fell down the cliff, which, to this day is deemed unstable. For a time the site was inaccessible for fear of collapse after the earthquakes, but it is currently open to the public again. An aerial view of Lyttelton taken in 1955, with Magazine Bay at bottom right adjacent to the reclaimed land at Naval Point, the magazine block prominent. (Photo credit Whites Aviation via Alexander Turnbull Library)
Lyttleton 1955
A vertical view of Magazine Bay and Fort Erskine taken in 1967, with pertinent items annotated. (Photo credit Retrolens - Historical Imagery Resource and licensed by LINZ)
Erskine Point 1967
Key:
1. The White Gates, entrance to the site from Park Road
2. Block house entrance to Fort Erskine
3. Above ground magazine site covered with earth
4. 7-inch gun emplacement
5. Observation post
6. Caretaker's cottage
7. Guard house/shed
8. Magazine block
9. Location of original stone jetty
10. Location of Grubb's workshop
11. Location of torpedo boat shed
12. Location of torpedo boat slipway
13. Location of Grubb's slipway, support pillars visible
More to come.
Formerly known as Baker's Bay, the little cove's first permanent structure was the existing magazine block, which was originally built to house explosives for port and roading construction in 1874. A caretaker's cottage was erected above the magazine block at the same time. A small stone jetty was constructed to facilitate the arrival of materials from sea. A picture of the magazine block visible from the western bank of Baker's Bay in 1936, photographed from an on-site interpretation board, with the wreck of the coaling hulk Lota in the foreground. Note construction in support of the bay's military role on the hill above the magazine block.
The building today, covered in graffiti and housing the Thorneycroft Torpedo Boat Museum.
Within the cove a local shipbuilder, John Grubb constructed a workshop and slipway and soon received work from the government. The 1880s Russian scare saw British investment into defending the colony nationwide, and forts were constructed, underwater mines were laid and spar torpedo boats were ordered for the country's busiest ports. Four of these small craft were bought from Thorneycroft, London and were distributed to Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton and Port Chalmers and were numbered 168 to 171 and unofficially named Defender, Taiaroa, Waitemata, and Poneke respectively. Defender arrived in Lyttelton in December 1884 and was housed in a new facility in Baker's Bay, which was renamed Magazine Bay to fit with the magazine block's new purpose of housing ammunition for the defensive positions built around Lyttelton Harbour. A boat shed and slipway were constructed to house the small steam powered vessel in between Grubb's slipway and workshop in the narrow confines of the bay. In this image taken in 1897, Grubb's slipway can be seen to the right, with the schooner Croydon Lass in attendance, with his workshop roof just visible to the left between the torpedo boat shed and slipway.
The bay today, with picnic tables sited where Grubb's workshop was located to the left and the torpedo boat shed to the right.
Some five acres of land on Erskine Point was requisitioned by the government for military purposes and further up the hill from the magazine block, Fort Erskine was constructed in 1890. This comprised a gun emplacement, above-ground magazine, observation block and guard house. This was manned by the Naval Artillery Volunteers, or the "Navals" as they were called, who were barracked in specially built structures on site. By the turn of the century, both Fort Erskine and the Defender were verging on obsolescence and within a few years, both had been decommissioned, the torpedo boat being sold to a private buyer and the gun site abandoned as a station. Remaining on site until 1934, the seven-ton gun was tipped carelessly over the ramparts down the cliff and was cut up for scrap, while in the 1960s the council blew up the covered magazine, leaving the gun hard standing, external ramparts, and concrete walls around the magazine site. The image below is from an interpretation board and shows Fort Erskine's 7-inch gun still in place in 1934, with recently taken comparison image.
The torpedo boat suffered an equally ignominious fate, as its owner stripped it of valuables and dumped it on Purau Beach, on the opposite side of the harbour from Lyttelton where its dismembered remains were eventually bulldozed into the sand. Various buildings remained on site at Magazine Bay until one by one they were dismantled, leaving walls and steps as signs of their existence behind for curious members of the public who were given access to the site as a walking track. Following the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes, the site suffered damage and the surviving ramparts at Fort Erskine in particular deteriorated further. The curved concrete forward rampart in front of the gun platform gave way and fell down the cliff, which, to this day is deemed unstable. For a time the site was inaccessible for fear of collapse after the earthquakes, but it is currently open to the public again. An aerial view of Lyttelton taken in 1955, with Magazine Bay at bottom right adjacent to the reclaimed land at Naval Point, the magazine block prominent. (Photo credit Whites Aviation via Alexander Turnbull Library)
A vertical view of Magazine Bay and Fort Erskine taken in 1967, with pertinent items annotated. (Photo credit Retrolens - Historical Imagery Resource and licensed by LINZ)
Key:
1. The White Gates, entrance to the site from Park Road
2. Block house entrance to Fort Erskine
3. Above ground magazine site covered with earth
4. 7-inch gun emplacement
5. Observation post
6. Caretaker's cottage
7. Guard house/shed
8. Magazine block
9. Location of original stone jetty
10. Location of Grubb's workshop
11. Location of torpedo boat shed
12. Location of torpedo boat slipway
13. Location of Grubb's slipway, support pillars visible
More to come.