Pinewood Battery, Artillery battery in Central and Western District, Hong Kong
Pinewood Battery is a ruined coastal artillery installation on a hilltop in the Central and Western District of Hong Kong. The site has two gun positions on an upper terrace and a concrete command post set just behind them.
The battery was completed in 1905 and fitted with two large guns for coastal defense. In the 1920s, anti-aircraft weapons were added as aircraft became a new military threat in the region.
The name Pinewood Battery comes from the pine trees that once covered the hillside around the gun positions, and some trees still grow near the ruins today. Visitors walking the paths can see the open concrete platforms where the guns once stood, now slowly being reclaimed by vegetation.
The site is reached by hiking trails and has picnic areas and seating on the grounds. Dry weather makes the paths easier to walk, so it is worth checking conditions before you set out.
Although the site was badly damaged during Japanese air raids in December 1941, the guns had already been removed years before that attack. What visitors see today are concrete structures that were never rebuilt after the war.
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