Fort Phillip Precinct

The Fort Phillip precinct contains four historically-significant sites – that of the first windmill, Fort Phillip itself, the Signal Station and Sydney Observatory.

The first windmill

The early colonial government built the first windmill on Flagstaff Hill (now Observatory Hill) in 1797; it continued to function into the 1840s.

Fort Phillip

Because he feared an insurrection by Irish political prisoners at Castle Hill and interference by the French, Governor Gidley King ordered construction of a citadel on a hill above The Rocks. Construction began in 1804, but work only proceeded spasmodically, and by 1807 the project had been abandoned, but the guns remained until the 1820s. By 1821, the fort was storing gunpowder in its magazine. In 1839 the storage of gunpowder was transferred to a new magazine on Goat Island.

The Signal Station

In 1808 a flagstaff was erected on Fort Phillip, and in about 1825 the eastern wall of Fort Phillip was converted into a signal station from which flags sent messages to the signal station on South Head and to ships in the Harbour. The station was closed in 1939 and the signal mast removed. However, a replica mast was erected in June 2008.

Sydney Observatory

The Sydney Observatory, which includes a time-ball tower was designed by Colonial Architect Alexander Dawson and opened in 1858. Daily, first at noon and soon after at 1pm the ball would drop to signal the correct time to the city and the harbour, and to enable ships to accurately rate their chronometers.

Technological change, the transfer of meteorology to the Commonwealth government and other factors including the adverse effect of ambient light from the city, forced its closure in 1982 as an operating observatory. It is now part of the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences. The Observatory is on the State Heritage Register.