Shepherds Hill military installations, Military heritage complex in Newcastle, Australia

Shepherds Hill military installations comprise a former 8-inch disappearing gun emplacement with underground rooms, an observation post 106 m above sea level, and a gunner's cottage, built between 1890 and 1940 on The Terrace in Newcastle. A 100-metre tunnel at 60 metres above sea level housed the No. 1 searchlight.

Lieutenant Colonel William Paterson named the site in 1801, and coal mining and a copper smelting works followed in the 1840s. In 1879 Colonel Scratchley proposed a self-defensible fort to protect Newcastle and its coalfields. An 8-inch disappearing gun emplacement with underground rooms was built in the 1890s against a feared Russian attack, and the site was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 July 2010.

The name Shepherds Hill comes from "Sheep Pasture Hills", given by Lieutenant Colonel William Paterson in 1801 because the grassy slopes reminded him of England. The gunner's cottage, built in the 1890s, was first occupied by Master Gunner Wollitt and served as an Officers Mess during World War II.

The observation post sits 106 m above sea level, roughly 6,000 yards from the Fort Wallace guns it controlled, so the climb is rewarded with a wide view over the coast. A 100 m tunnel, driven about 60 m above sea level, housed the No. 1 searchlight. Paths cross steep grassy slopes; wear sturdy shoes.

The 8-inch disappearing gun installed in 1896 was mounted on a carriage that dropped below the parapet after firing, using hydraulic rams to absorb the recoil and return it to firing position. Major General Scratchley ordered such guns for the Australian colonies despite War Office reservations, but the weapon was deemed unsafe by 1906.