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Middle Head
This walk is richly endowed with historical references and examples of Mosman’s military heritage, It is also easy, flat and has some fine views. Until the early 1990s much of the land was out of bounds to the general public. When it was finally deemed surplus to defence requirements the site was very nearly subdivided and sold off. After some vigorous lobbying by the community and some help from local politicians, there was a rethink. An organisation called the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust was set up to redevelop and manage the entire site, on the basis that the public would have full access and the heritage value of all buildings was to be preserved. The walk features a cairn made from stones from every county in Scotland, Mosman’s only formal grave, heritage military buildings now used for various commercial purposes including artist studios, outdoor sculptures, a fine example of a grand residence in the Californian Bungalow style, formerly a golf clubhouse and now a café restaurant with retail, artillery emplacements, ordnance tunnels, an award-winning toilet, a naval hospital and underwater training school and two nudist beaches.
Sydney Harbour Federation Trust has produced a visitor guide for their site which covers the history of all significant buildings. You can download it here.
Click here to find out more about points of interest on this walk and download a pdf of a single double sided colour A4 sheet with a map and instructions you take take along with you when you do the walk.
Gavin Souter, long term Mosman resident and writer of the 1994 book "Mosman a History" talks about the military history of Middle Head in the front half of this video.
For more photos of this walk, click here.
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