Steel Point Battery
Fort on the shores of Sydney Harbour, Australia
The Steele Point Battery is a small fort, on the shores of Port Jackson in the eastern Sydney suburb of Vaucluse, Australia.
History
Talk of the need for harbour defences was noted as far back as 1857, while referencing the alternate name of Steel Point.
The land on Shark Point was resumed from its private owners and construction of the battery began in 1871 and was completed in 1874 with an additional barracks being added in 1880. The site was designed under the supervision of colonial architect James Barnet who was responsible for designing several other harbour fortifications during this period. In 1872 three 80-pounder rifled muzzle-loading guns were installed.
It has been stated that the Shark Point battery was upgraded in 1893 to hold a BL 9.2 inch (234 mm) Mk VI breech-loading 'counter bombardment' British Armstrong 'disappearing' gun. This is incorrect, as there were two different 'Shark Point' batteries. The Shark Point Battery with the 9.2in Hydro-Pneumatic gun mounting as actually at Shark Point, Little Coogee. Three such batteries protected Port Jackson and the city from bombardment from the sea. The other two are the Ben Buckler Gun Battery at Ben Buckler, and the Signal Hill Battery at Watsons Bay.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Steel Point Battery” as fort on the shores of Sydney Harbour, Australia. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as fort on the shores of Sydney Harbour, Australia. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7605697. Authority coordinates are -33.851, 151.265. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1857, 1871, 1874 and 1880.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Steel Point Battery”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Steel Point Battery primary sources, Steel Point Battery archive and Steel research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Steel Point Battery”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Steel Point Battery” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.