Victoria Barracks

Work commenced on the structure on February 8, 1841 with labour being from convicts. In 1845, the Sydney Morning Herald recorded that there were 150 convicts, 50 stone masons and builders and 5 carpenters.

New South Wales first Commander of Royal Engineers and Colonial Engineer, Lieutenant Colonel George Barney ( 1792 - 1862 ), designed and supervised its construction until 1843 when Lieutenant Colonel James Gordon took over. Barney was commissioned into the Royal Engineers at the age of 16 and saw service at Gibraltar and the West Indies.

The stone for the structures was quarried on the 29 acre site and nearby areas. The first building to be completed was the officers' quarters at the eastern end in 1842.

Troops of the 11th ( North Devonshire ) Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel H. K. Bloomfield, were the first permanent occupants. They arrived from Hobart on August 5 1848. During the next 22 years five British Regiments occupied the site. In 1870, with no apparent threat that the Royal Navy couldn't handle, the Imperial Government withdrew the garrison troops from Australia.

During both World Wars, the Barracks was headquarters for military staff engaged in war planning and administration.

Guard House

Has been maintained in its near original state and has been continuously manned since 1848.

Officers Original Quarters

These are located at the eastern end of the site in the first building completed and bear the Royal Cipher and date, 1842, on the central facia. The building also housed the Royal Military College during the depression years between the two World Wars. The veranda on the central part of the building was added towards the end of the last century.

Main Barracks Block

Considered historically and architecturally one of the most outstanding military barracks in the British Commonwealth. The central archway provides an excellent example of Regency masonry. The stone face of this building displays remnants of its previous owners, the countless lucifer marks on the sandstone where the soldiers struck their light to smoke and the indentations at some doorways where they sharpened their bayonets and knives.

Rear of Main Block

Houses two former kitchens for troops at the rear of each wing, with a two storied canteen centrally behind the archway. The canteen cellar has a beautifully arched roof. Nearby, an underground water supply was filled by drainage from the higher ground, which provided an emergency water supply.

Q Block

Formerly the garrison prison. The cell block and the jailers quarters are at the southern end of the structure and reputed to be haunted. The north eastern corner of the building covers a shaft from Busby's Bore from which the Barracks water supply was drawn.

Busby's Bore

Sydney's second water supply ( the Tank Stream was first ) came from Lachlan Swamps in Centennial Park. A tunnel was constructed from the swamps to Hyde Park by J Busby and sons. It ran beneath the south west corner of the Barracks. Begun in 1827 and completed in 1835, but by 1860 due to cave ins and silting it became too inefficient for use.

Officers' Mess

Originally constructed as the garrison hospital. It was converted into the mess when the Royal Military College moved into the Barracks in the 1930s. A small brass cannon at the entrance to the mess grounds is dated 1779 and believed to have been brought to Sydney with the First Fleet on the supply ship " Sirius ".

Commandant's Bungalow

This structure has been occupied by successive commanders of the Barracks.