Bare Island Fort

Bare Island Fort's guide follows colonial architect James Barnet, builder of some of Sydney's grandest sandstone landmarks, whose career unravelled on this small island fort rushed up in the 1880s amid fears of a Russian invasion. It traces contractor John McLeod's cut corners, the soldiers who refused to sleep inside the unfinished walls, and the 1890 Royal Commission that tore the project apart. Stand at the gun emplacements that once failed inspection before crossing back over the footbridge.