Fort Monckton: The Former Central Magazine

Fort Monckton, the former central magazine, was built around 1789-1790 and features early and mid-20th century additions. The structure is made of red brick laid in Flemish bond with flared headers and stone dressings.

This single-storey building has a square plan and a barrel-vaulted roof, with two small extensions on the side elevations. It measures three bays wide and three bays long, oriented from north-west to south-east. The main façade faces south-east and includes two projecting pedimented doorways flanking a Diocletian window. Each doorway features a round-headed arch with projecting imposts and keystones, topped by a broken pediment. The east doorway has a studded copper-covered door with bronze hinges, designed to prevent sparks as per magazine regulations, while the west doorway has a 20th-century flush timber door.

On the south-west elevation, there are two six-over-six horned sash windows beside an early 20th-century extension, which is built of red brick in stretcher bond and has a three-over-six sash window, a flat roof, and a rendered chimney. The north-east elevation also features six-over-six horned sash windows and a mid-20th-century extension that is two bays long and one bay wide, constructed of red brick in stretcher bond with a flat concrete felt-covered roof. This extension includes a timber-boarded doorway and fixed windows.

Inside, the magazine has barrel-vaulted ventilation passages on three sides, accessed from a central magazine chamber covered by a pointed barrel-vault. The inner walls have blocked windows that are offset from the outer walls to allow indirect light into the chamber. The back wall of the magazine shows scars from bullet holes due to its use as a pistol range in the early 20th century, and there is a blocked ventilation cavity in the barrel-vaulted ceiling.