Wellington Barracks, Hong Kong
| Wellington Barracks | |
|---|---|
| 威靈頓兵房 | |
| Hong Kong | |
 Wellington Barracks
Location within Hong Kong
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| Coordinates | 22°16′41″N 114°09′58″E / 22.278°N 114.166°ECoordinates: 22°16′41″N 114°09′58″E / 22.278°N 114.166°E |
| Type | Barracks |
| Site history | |
| Built | circa 1850 |
| Built for | War Office |
| In use | 1850-1990 |
Wellington Barracks (Chinese: 威靈頓兵房) was a military barracks located to the east of Garden Road in Admiralty, Hong Kong. One of many military complexes constructed by the British Army in the area, the land was returned to the Hong Kong government in the 1970s and gradually reverted to civilian use. As a result, the barracks was closed at the end of that decade, demolished in the mid-1980s and replaced with Harcourt Garden.
During the First Opium War, the British occupied Hong Kong in 1841 and one year later, Hong Kong Island was ceded to them in the Treaty of Nanking. The new administration chose the site between the bottom of Government Hill and Wan Chai as land for military use. The British Army erected the Naval and Military Hospital in a matshed in January (or April) 1841. However, it was obliterated just six months later when a typhoon struck Hong Kong.
As early as 1842 a "Battery of 5 Guns" appeared on maps at the site which later became Harcourt Garden. Starting in 1854, it began being marked as "Wellington Battery", named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. Starting from the 1900s, the battery ceased to appear on maps.
The new barracks was just one of several military buildings constructed by the British Army in Admiralty. These included Murray Barracks, Victoria Barracks and Admiralty Dock. Located to the east of Garden Road, Wellington Barracks was previously situated on Hong Kong Island's waterfront with Victoria Harbour, with a seawall running to the north of the barracks (however, the site is located much farther inland now due to the amount of land reclamation that has been undertaken since). It was connected with Victoria Barracks by a set of cables that ran across Queensway and was used to transport ammunition between the two sites. The barracks housed a gold-coloured bell to help keep time at the military base. It was this very bell that gave Admiralty its name in Chinese (金鐘; literally "Golden Bell").
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