Fort Buckley

• 1879 - 1885
• Original Construction

Not assessed

Not assessed

The remains of Fort Buckley are in good intact condition and remain relatively unaltered. Based on the standard design developed by Major Cautley to house two 64 pr RML guns, the layout at Fort Buckley was also used at Fort Resolution in Auckland and the Channel Battery in Dunedin. The gun pits at Fort Buckley are finely finished and its two gun loading galleries feature three shell recesses with arched tops, and ringbolts set into the parapet above each.  

• Concrete
• Timber
• Brick

Fort Buckley is located on a steep cliff overlooking Wellington’s inner harbour on reserve land owned by Wellington City Council. Access to the fort is by a tack next to 162 Barnard Street, Highland Park. Presently the gun emplacements are still in place and in relatively good condition. 

• Architectural

  Does the item have architectural or artistic value for characteristics that may include its design, style, era, form, scale, materials, colour, texture, patina of age, quality of space, craftsmanship, smells, and sounds?

  Fort Buckley has architectural value as an example of the types of coastal defences that were constructed in the 1880s in Wellington. The remains of this fort are the most intact of any built in and around Wellington at this time. 

• Group

  Is the item part of a group of buildings, structures, or sites that taken together have coherence because of their age, history, style, scale, materials, or use?

  Fort Buckley is one of a group of forts constructed in the 1880s as part of a coastal defence network. By 1898 Wellington boasted four fortresses, Ballance, Buckley, Gordon, and Kelburne, as well as batteries at the Botanic Gardens, Halswell, and Kau Point. 

• Association

  Is the item associated with an important historic event, theme, pattern, phase, or activity?

  Fort Buckley was the first operational coastal defence site in Wellington and associated with a time of rapid change in armaments and coastal artillery.  It is associated with the New Zealand Government, which had been forced to acknowledge that they could not rely upon the British alone for protection and it is a tangible reminder of New Zealand’s first step towards independence from the British Crown. More recently Fort Buckley is associated with heritage protection in New Zealand. 

• Association

  Is the item associated with an important person, group, or organisation?

  Fort Buckley is primarily associated with the New Zealand Government, the early Defence forces, and its designers Major Henry Cautley and Lieutenant Colonel Tudor-Boddam. 

• Archaeological

  Does the item have archaeological value for its ability to provide scientific information about past human activity?

  Fort Buckley is a known archaeological site – NZAA R27/159. 

• Educational

  Does the item have educational value for what it can demonstrate about aspects of the past?

  Fort Buckley has considerable educational potential; it is the least altered of the original ‘Russian Scare’ fortresses, and has the potential to provide insight into early coastal defences. 

• Technological

  Does the item have technological value for its innovative or important construction methods or use of materials?

  There is technical value in the remains of Fort Buckley, particularly the gun emplacements constructed to house the 64pr RML guns. Surviving elements of its original construction such as the collapsed magazine and passageways are also of value. 

• Public Esteem

  Is the item held in high public esteem?

  Fort Buckley is held in high public esteem as it is a physical reminder of the response to the first serious threat to New Zealand since colonisation. The fort was the site of a heritage battle in 1989 over the ownership, which was won by Wellington City Council, which made the area a reserve. 

• Identity - Sense of Place - Continuity

  Is the item a focus of community, regional, or national identity? Does the item contribute to sense of place or continuity?

  Fort Buckley is a focus of community, regional, and national identity and is a highly significant site. Constructed by the New Zealand Government in response to the ‘Russian Scare’ and as an acknowledgement that the British could not be relied upon for protection, it is the among the first movement towards a more independent New Zealand.

• Representative

  Is the item a good example of the class it represents?

  Fort Buckley is the most intact example of the military installations and is an excellent representative of the coastal fortifications that were constructed in the later 1870s-1880s.  

• Authentic

  Does the item have authenticity or integrity because it retains significant fabric from the time of its construction or from later periods when important additions or modifications were carried out?

  Fort Buckley retains a high level of authenticity and integrity and is the most intact example of a coastal fortification found in Wellington. It has authenticity of materials, design, craftsmanship, and setting. 

• Importance

  Is the item important at a local, regional, national, or international level?

  Fort Buckley is of national significance as a part of New Zealand’s early post-colonial coastal defence history. It is part of a nationwide landscape of coastal defences designed to address the threat of war and as a response to the realisation that acknowledgement that the British could not be relied upon for protection, so is associated with early nation building in New Zealand. It has high levels of architectural, group, historic, archaeological, educational, technical, and social values, as well as being associated with the military for over 100 years. The majority of the site is intact and retains some now rare features.      

Not assessed

• Historic Places Trust. ‘Henry Cautley’, Professional Biographies. Accessed 22 November 2013,
• O’Brien, Rebecca. ‘Fort Buckley – Barnard Street.’ New Zealand Historic Places Trust registration report 2004. Accessed 22 November 2013,

• Inventory report

Not available