[1] 1870 saw the removal of British forces from Australia (the Cardwell reforms), putting the onus on wealthy colonies like NSW and Victoria to assist with defence arrangements.
The coastal guns were used in a "counter-bombardment" role – to repel armed ships approaching, passing or bombarding population centres like Sydney.
An 1879 British Ordinance Committee had earlier identified the need for Britain and its colonies to be able to match arms developments such as those of the Imperial German Army and Navy (Krupp guns).
They were chosen because of their range and power, and upon firing and recoil, the gun retracted into its concealed pit and was therefore a lesser target to attacking naval vessels.
The domed metal shield that covered the gun pit was devised to deflect incoming shells striking the battery.
These comprised three at Sydney's eastern suburb batteries, plus a spare barrel; four in Victoria at Fort Nepean and Queenscliff, and two in South Australia (purchased in 1888).
The Sydney guns were purchased with three hydro-pnuematic mounts and had the following serial numbers: Shark Point: #7317; Signal Hill: #7318; Bondi: #7319, and the spare: #7320.
The gun weighed 20 tonnes (22 short tons) and was installed on an EOC Hydro-pneumatic Mark "1" disappearing mount, operated by hydraulic power.
No buyer was obtained for the Ben Buckler gun so it was allegedly buried under direction of Waverley Council in the 1950s, complete with its hydraulic raising mechanism and concrete emplacement works.
The survey was assisted by heritage staff at Waverley Council and Rod Caldwell, Project Officer, from the Fort Scratchley Historical Society, Newcastle.
Annecdotal evidence suggests that the entire concrete casemate, gun and hydraulic mount were left in situ and buried by landfill during the 1950s for the creation of the public open space, the Hugh Bamford Reserve (oval).
It retains the potential to showcase late nineteenth century disappearing gun technology and associated emplacement designs.
As only three of these large 23-centimetre (9.2 in) disappearing guns were established in NSW, the Ben Buckler site has the potential to document the principal characteristics of the important class of coastal fortifications of this type.
The 1890s fortifications along Sydney's eastern suburbs were the culmination of a long period of harbour defence installations reflecting changing policy to meet new technologies, threats and styles of warfare.
[1] Ben Buckler Gun Battery was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 15 December 2006 having satisfied the following criteria.
The Ben Buckler gun site is important for its potential to document a phase in the continual evolution of harbour and coastal defences of Sydney.
Their advice and directives led to the continual advancement of the defensive capability of Sydney and its rival colonies, based on the best options to fortify Australian ports in an era of increasing mechanisation and military threat (real or implied).
The Battery, if found to retain its original 9.2" gun, hydraulic mount, associated movable items, and ancillary rooms and quarters, provides a unique opportunity to document 1890s military technology and defence fortification systems.
The potential integrity of these elements is unique in the Australian context and would provide one of the few opportunities for detailed scientific analysis of such a large coastal naval fortification system (9.2") in the world.
In world terms, the Ben Buckler site is important as a comparative example to other British defence facilities established throughout its colonies in the late 1870s – turn of the century.