A double (barrelled) surprise

Don't come in ... unless you have to

I found another one, actually another two. Every time I declare that I have finally discovered the last of the World War II gun emplacements, more turn up. You'd think I was in the Somme, not unscathed Wellington. This bout of research has left me realizing that I have a whole lot more to go until I have seen all the old defenses around Wellington.

But to begin at the beginning. More reading had revealed that there had been guns atop the point now housing the Massey Memorial. Having been there already I didn't recall seeing any such structures. So I returned this weekend and remembered being confronted by this very funny sign, above, which, while very officiously warning me to keep out, very politely offers me a stile for easy access.

The sign does say that those on "business" can enter. It doesn't say what kind of business (I thought blogging is a business to some) and it was early on a quiet Sunday morning. So I decided to have a look. Soon I found myself scrambling up steep and muddy terrain. Then, Escape from Colditz-like, I heard voices and  dogs and crouched behind a bush, as one does, thinking darl and tremulous thoughts. It was not, in fact, an armed patrol as I had feared. Rather it was three chaps taking their dogs out for a walk. So I continued my scramble feeling much less adventurous.

And eventually came across the sought-after battery.

Another view to a kill.

The 3.7" Anti-Aircraft Battery at Mount Crawford, overlooking Shelly Bay, aren't the prettiest or most spectacular of emplacements in Wellington. But, like most of the others, they do offer a spectacular view of the city. As with most of the gun embankments, there's not a lot of information about Mount Crawford.  (In fact, the only one of these gradually decaying fortresses that even has as much as a small sign is Ft. Opau.) I did find out that in 1942 the decommissioned Kau Point Battery, which I'd never heard of and which was above Scorcher Bay, served Mount Crawford as an ammunition store. (So, yes, now I've got to find the two batteries - Fort Ballance and Kau Point - on Scorcher Bay. Will my task never be done?)

There was, thankfully, the obligatory graffiti.

Mt. Crawford.

 Turns out, though, that I had actually stumbled across a double this weekend.

Why not just put a mausoleum on top of a gun?

I had not realized that the garish-by-Kiwi standards Massey Memorial had in fact originally been home to an 8" gun when it was still known as Halswell battery. This was not a World War II defense, having been built in the 1880s. There were a number of guns associated with this also-finely-perched battery.

According to an actual historical website I've found, "in 1925 Prime Minister William Massey died in office and it was decided to create a memorial on the site of the Halswell battery. The gunpit was lined with marble and above ground a three-sided pyramid was built over the gunpit... The 8" gun was later found at the foot fo the hill when the coastal road was widened ... On the outside there is little to indicate that a gun emplacement lies beneath. And yet below ground the battery is structurally intact although stripped of its equipment."

Fascinating stuff.

I have loved these little impromptu tours of Wellington's history. (Who knew, for instance, that the previously unknown-to-me Fort Ballance was built during the Second Russian Scare of 1885). It seems, though, that I have some more work to do until I uncover all of the wonderful old batteries around town.

To recap, so far I have visited, photographed and blogged about: Ft. Dorset, the guns of Somes Island, Ft. Opau, Pol Hill, the magnificent Wrights Hill, Palmer Heads, and Seatoun. So, with Mt. Crawford and Halswell Battery added, I've made a dent, but there are a few more to go and I'm running out of time.