page_title: Vaucluse, New South Wales
section_title: Former military sites
hierarchical_section_title: Vaucluse, New South Wales / History / Former military sites
caption_attribution_description: Signal Hill Battery
context_page_description: Vaucluse is an eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of Waverley Council and the Municipality of Woollahra.
  Vaucluse is located on the South Head peninsula, just South of The Gap with Sydney Harbour on the west and the Tasman Sea to the east. The Sydney Harbour side of the suburb commands views across the harbour to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The adjacent suburbs are Watsons Bay to the north and Rose Bay and Dover Heights to the south.
  Vaucluse is a mainly residential suburb. For many years it was the most affluent suburb in Sydney and as of May 2017, in terms of houses and properties, was in the top five most expensive suburbs. Tahiti, a Hawaiian-style residence in tropical gardens above Hermit Bay, set an Australian residential record when it sold to a trio of South Africans for more than A$29 million in September 2007. The Australian residential record was overtaken by Leon Kamenev, the founder of Menulog, purchasing four waterfront properties on prestigious Coolong Road for a combined A$80 million in April 2016.
context_section_description: Several defensive fortifications are located on the shores and cliff tops of Vaucluse, such as the Signal Hill Battery, constructed in 1892; it was intended to defend the town of Sydney from bombardment by an enemy vessel standing off the coast. Although the fortification has been heavily vandalised, it is still intact and lies adjacent to the Signal Hill, signal station.
  The Steel Point fortification in Nielsen Park was constructed in 1871; it originally accommodated three 80-pounder rifled muzzle-loaders (RMLs) that were replaced in the 1890s with 5 inch breech-loading guns. The fortification was built at a time when fears of a Russian attack seemed imminent, as well as other concerns such as withdrawal of British garrison troops, threats to British dependencies and increasing self-reliance in defence matters. The battery consisted of three sandstone gun emplacements with embrasures for the guns to fire through. The gun emplacements were connected to underground chambers, as well as a gunpowder magazine, by open passages and underground passageways leading into the complex.
  In the 1950s, the RAN degaussing station was constructed over part of the Steel Point fortification. The degaussing station was a countermeasure against magnetic mines. Shark Island was used for this purpose during World War II. Naval ships would pass over cables laid under the harbour and were effectively demagnetized.
caption: Signal Hill Battery
exif: {"Image ExifOffset": "26", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/200", "EXIF FNumber": "11", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2011:04:03 14:35:46", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2011:04:03 14:35:46", "EXIF FocalLength": "31250000/1214939", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "31250000/1214939"}