bare island

Bare Island was so named by Captain Cook, because it was … “a small, bare island…”

In the late 1870s a decision was made to build a fort on Bare Island, La Perouse, as Botany was seen to make Sydney vulnerable to attack. Construction of the fort was completed in 1885 at a cost of 34 000 pounds, well exceeding the original estimate. The fort featured 5 gun emplacements and bomb proof connecting passages.

In 1890 a Royal Commission found that the concrete in the fort was faulty, and had to begun to fall down before construction was even complete. By 1902 the fort was no longer part of the coastline defences, and in 1912 the barracks inside were converted into a nursing home for war veterans.

It continued in this capacity until 1963 when the Randwick District Historical Society established a museum on the site. It is currently managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Services and has been declared a historical site.

Bare Island was used as one of the sets for Mission Impossible: II, and more recently for a Japanese game show.

For more information see:

Randwick City Council > About Randwick > A to Z Of People & Places > Bare Island.