Wrights Hill Fortress is a counter bombardment coastal artillery battery in the Karori suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. It was built between 1942 and 1944 and is predominantly underground, with numerous tunnels linking the war shelters, gun emplacements, magazines, plotting rooms and engine room – which are, at some points, over 50 feet underground. The fort was intended to house three 9.2" Mk. XV guns, but only two guns were installed and the fort never saw action. After World War II was over, fort commanders fired both of the guns (Gun number one in 1946 and the second in 1947). The fall of the shot was observed in Cook Strait and these test firings (three rounds on each occasion) were deemed a success. In 1960, both of the guns were sold to Japanese companies as scrap metal. The design of the fort is similar to the Stony Batter and Whangaparāoa 9.2" Mk. XV batteries, near Auckland.
Wrights Hill Fortress is currently in the hands of a preservation society and can be visited by the public. The Fortress is listed as a Category I Historic Place.
History
Background
In response to the Russian scare of the 1880s, numerous coastal forts had been constructed around Wellington. These defenses were superseded in 1910 by a 6-inch Mk VII gun battery at Point Dorset, but were outdated by the 1930s. In 1933 the New Zealand Government instigated a modernisation program of the New Zealand Military Forces, which included the construction of new coastal defenses at Wellington. Under advice from the War Office in the United Kingdom, 9.2 inch guns were approved in 1934 and the Wrights Hill site selected. The anticipated cost of the proposed three-gun battery, however, proved to be too much and the decision was made to instead construct a smaller 6-inch gun battery at Palmer point. The idea of the 9.2-inch battery at Wrights Hill was revisited in 1937 and although approved by Cabinet, it was again delayed due to cost. Only with the outbreak of war in 1939 was the plan acted on, but the inability to acquire the guns meant that construction could not begin. In March 1942, the gun manufacturers provided an expected delivery date of within 12 months and construction could finally begin. In 2004 the fortress was identified by Heritage New Zealand as "one of New Zealand's most significant or best representative examples of coastal defence" and listed as a Category I Historic Place.
The New Zealand horror film The Devil's Rock was filmed in the tunnels and gun pits, standing in for a World War II German bunker.
See also
- Coastal fortifications of New Zealand
- Stony Batter