FORT  BUCKLEY

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      Fort Buckley was built to help defend Wellington's inner harbour.  Originally built in 1885 predominantly dug in the hill and sandbagged, the fort was rebuilt in concrete in 1886.

      The fort was armed with two 64pdr RML (Rifled Muzzle loading) guns.   These guns had a range of about 3520 yards. The emplacements were 77 feet apart.   Between these two emplacements was an underground magazine made of wood (long since collapsed). This was the only 64pdr battery built in Wellington which never had its ordinance upgraded. The guns were to be installed in the "Low Battery" situated below Fort Ballance at Point Gordon but this was never done.

      In the 1890's defence priorities were changed from defending the inner harbour to denying a enemy or hostile ship access to the inner harbour As a result the defences of the late 1880's and the 1890's were concentrated around the top end of the Miramar Peninsular. This meant that Fort Buckley was no longer considered important. It appears that Fort Buckley was used for drills for a while. When were the guns removed and what happened to them I don't know.

      During World War 2 Fort Buckley was once again used for defensive purposes. This time an Anti-Aircraft battery was positioned slightly up the hill from the caretakers house. Its purpose was to provide anti-aircraft cover for the fuel storage tanks nearby in Kaiwharawhara. The caretakers house has since burnt down in one of the numerous scrub fires that occur in the area.
 
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      The land that the fort stands upon has a tunnel running under it for a suburban train line and was under the ownership of TransRail (formerly the New Zealand Railways). In 1990 the Wellington city council started to negotiate for the purchase of the land that the fort occupies. In the Evening Post on Tuesday the 8th of May 2001 an article appeared with the title "Council buys Fort Buckley historic site". The Wellington City Council had finally acquired the land.

      Fort Buckley is periodically cleared of scrub although it appears to be preserved in it's current state rather than being restored.

      Fort Buckley appears to be safe however it's value will change if the Fortifications built on the Miramar Peninsula during the 1880's and 1890's are not preserved due to the fact that they collectively demonstrate the evolution in Coast Artillery technology.

  
 
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© Darcy Waters 2000