GC4TFTD Fort Nelson (WSSS 10) (Traditional Cache) in Tasmania, Australia created by Barad Bunch

This cache has been archived.

Barad Bunch: The area around the cache is no longer quiet and secluded. There has been (relatively recent) ground clearing and disturbance with many fallen trees. The cache is missing. Time to archive.

GC4TFTD ▼

A cache by Barad Bunch Message this owner

Hidden : 11/27/2013

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: small (small)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:

This is the tenth (and probably final) of a short series of caches on Mt Wellington that will take you to several historic places that are not often visited these days (and that do not already have a cache nearby). The series is called Wellington's Seldom Seen Sites (WSSS).

Fort Nelson

This cache is hidden on the slopes of Porter Hill overlooking the Derwent Estuary. Porter Hill is on the eastern side of Mount Nelson, which could be considered to be one of Mt Wellington's foothills justifying inclusion in the WSSS series. The site is historically significant and has only relatively recently been open to the public. The cache description is longer than normal because not much information about the area is easily and publicly available.

Fort Nelson was built at Porter Hill in circa 1910 as part of Hobart's defences against a Russian invasion. It consisted of two gun emplacements, each holding a six inch gun, together with supporting barracks and other buildings and infrastructure. It replaced the other earlier gun emplacements around Hobart and was the only location of coastal defence in Tasmania during World War One.

One of the guns (image from the Anglesea Barracks, Military Museum link)
The guns were never fired in anger and the fort was decommissed at the end of the Second World War. In 1949 Esmond Dorney, a noted architect, purchased what was left of Fort Nelson and the surrounding land (31 hectares) from the Commonwealth of Australia. Dorney successively designed, built and occupied three houses at the site. The first was on the southern gun emplacement. It was the first circular glass house in the world. After that was destroyed in a bushfire a second house was built on the northern gun emplacement. This was also destroyed in a bushfire and another house, the one there today, was built on the same location.

Esmond Dorney died in 1991 and the Dorney family eventually sold the Porter Hill property to the Hobart City Council in 2006, both parties wanting to protect the natural, cultural and historic values of the site. The area is now a public reserve.

The present situation is that the main residence is used for special events. There is also a nearby smaller residence (a 'flat'). Please treat these buildings as private property. The remaining part of the reserve is available for public use including walking tracks and the Barracks site (where the cache is located). Please do not disturb any of the remaining artifacts.

Fort Nelson Barracks and Cache

All of the Fort's original buildings have either been removed or destroyed by the various bushfires that have swept through the region. Nature is reclaiming the area and much of it is now covered in bush (chiefly Allocasuarina). There were five huts for soldiers and another for officers (the Barracks site).


Barracks in 1911	Barracks: officers, mens huts

(images adapted from HCC's Porter Hill Consultancy document)
Little remains of these huts except the terraces (some now tree covered) on which the huts were constructed. Terracing involved digging into the gentle slopes, building dry stone walls and filling to form flat areas. The cache is hidden in this area. You will need to leave the old road (both uphill and downhill) to find the terraces. Unfortunately in the last couple of years much of the recovering bush has been cleared, presumably to aid fire control.

The cache is small and contains only a log book (visiting the site is the reward). It is hidden at the side of the old road near to the terraces.

You may also like to explore the wider area since there are traces of several other features to be seen. One of significance is the former underground water tank that was used later to house UTAS seismographic equipment in the 1950s. (See UGTANK below for coordinates.) A track leads uphill to the tank starting about 20 metres south of the cache.

Getting There

The Dorney Porter Hill residence has a street address of 24 Gardenia Grove, Sandy Bay. The shortest approach to the cache is to park near the end of this street. The required road has a barrier and is marked "Private" but pedestrian access is allowed. Walk up the narrow sealed road until the second sharp "hairpin" turn is reached (about 400m, see OLDRD below for coordinates). Leave the sealed road (on the left side) and follow the old road until the barrack area is reached (about 100m).

The Porter Hill Reserve shares boundaries with the Bicentennial Park, Cartwright Reserve and Pierces Reserve. There is a walking track starting near the Mt Nelson Signal Station that goes down to the third "hairpin" bend in the vehicle access road. From there follow the sealed road downhill until the second "hairpin" turn is reached. Entry can also be obtained from Folder Street, near the intersection of Churchill Avenue and Sandy Bay Road. Follow the walking track uphill to the Barracks site.

My favourite walk to the site (about 2 km one way) is via the Truganini Track starting at the Channel Highway, Taroona. (The Truganini Track starts along the edge of Cartwright Creek.) Follow the Truganini Track uphill until a track, signposted "Porter Hill", branches off to the right. (See TRKBCH below for coordinates.) Follow this track. At the next junction (S 42° 55.675' E 147° 21.050') turn sharp right and continue until the Barracks site is reached. (If you continue going left instead of right, you will reach the third "hairpin" bend so you can still get to the Barracks site that way if you like.)

Acknowledgements

Help from the Hobart City Council's Bushland & Reserves Unit is gratefully acknowledged.

Information Sources

Hobart City Council's Porter Hill Consultancy Volume 1, 2007
http://architectureau.com/articles/fort-nelson-house-by-j-h-esmond-dorney/
http://www.aicomos.com/wp-content/uploads/2009_UnlovedModern_Wilkie_George_Boughton_Bob_Dorney-Legacy_Paper.pdf

The WSSS Series

Wiggins Slate Quarry (WSSS 01) GC2M45J
Old Log Bridge (WSSS 02) GC2NGGE
McRobies Gully Creek (WSSS 03) GC2P6B9
Mossy Musk (WSSS 04) GC2RX3J
Mossy Mystery 01 (WSSS 05) GC2V8R8
Mossy Mystery 02 (WSSS 06) GC2Y4R3
Mossy Madison (WSSS 07) GC30E8N
Mossy Lakin (WSSS 08) GC33EP4
Victor's Garden (WSSS 09) GC4RA38
Fort Nelson (WSSS 10) GC4TFTD

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Pnpur vf ba gur jrfgrea (be hcuvyy) rqtr bs gur genpx, Uvqqra oruvaq ebpxf.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)

Fort Nelson (WSSS 10) Traditional Cache