Victoria Barracks

VICTORIA BARRACKS

Victoria Barracks is an Australian Army base in Sydney, situated in the suburb of Paddington, near the Sydney Cricket Ground and Sydney Football Stadium.

World Youth Day and Victoria Barracks

On Sunday 20 July, Pope Benedict XVI will leave from Victoria Barracks to fly by helicopter over the Southern Cross Precinct.

He will return to Victoria Barracks and transfer into the Popemobile to travel to Randwick Racecourse for the Final Mass.

Early History

Several buildings make up this historical location that was built in the 1840s - a period of early settlement in Australia. 

The Officer's Quarters was the first completed building, finished in 1842.

Between 1841 - 1846, convicts constructed the Main Barracks building using Hawkesbury sandstone.

The Bungalow was built in 1847 and the Garrison Hospital was built in 1845, and was later converted to an Officer's Mess.

The gate on Oxford Street is referred to as the Queen Victoria Gate while the gate on Moore Park road is known as the Convict Gate.

How were they first used? 

The Barracks were occupied by members of the British Army until 1870. It was the main military training site in Australia from its completion until the early twentieth century. Victoria Barracks was home of the Royal Military College of Australia from 1931 to 1936 and housed the Command and Staff School from 1938 to 1940. Victoria Barracks is still in use today and is the site of the Headquarters Land Command and Headquarters Training Command.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.