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Battery Point
HobartTasmania
Battery Point, Tasmania.jpg
An assortment of weatherboard and brick row houses in Battery Point
Battery Point is located in Tasmania
Battery Point
Battery Point
Location in Tasmania
Population 1,997 (2016 census)
 • Density 2,995.7/km2 (7,759/sq mi)
Postcode(s) 7004
Area 0.7 km2 (0.3 sq mi)
LGA(s) City of Hobart
State electorate(s) Clark
Federal Division(s) Clark
Suburbs around Battery Point:
West Hobart Hobart Salamanca
South Hobart Battery Point Derwent River
Dynnyrne Sandy Bay Derwent River

Battery Point is a suburb of the city of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It is immediately south of the central business district. It is in the local government area of City of Hobart.

Battery Point is named after the battery of guns which were established on the point in 1818 as part of the Hobart coastal defences. The battery was situated on the site of today's Princes Park. The guns were used to fire salutes on ceremonial occasions but were never called upon to repel an invasion. The battery was decommissioned after an 1878 review of Hobart's defences found that its location would tend to draw an enemy's fire onto the surrounding residential neighbourhood. The site was subsequently handed over to the Hobart City Council as a place of recreation and amusement. When the Council carried out works to beautify the park in 1934, they discovered tunnels which had served as a magazine for the original battery. In 1973, a green ban was placed by the Builders Labourers Federation to prevent destruction of certain buildings by developers.

The area is generally known as one of the city's more prestigious suburbs, with many large and extravagant homes and apartment blocks. It adjoins the waterfront Salamanca area as well as the nearby prestigious suburb of Sandy Bay.

St Georges, Battery Point
St George's Anglican Church in Battery Point, designed by John Lee Archer. Battery Point has a large number of historic houses dating from the first European settlement of "Hobart Town".

Probably the most significant is Arthur Circus with its cottages, mostly originally constructed for the officers of the garrison.

Battery Point is accessible via Hampden Road, which runs from Sandy Bay Road from the edge of the city.

LENNA OF HOBART, TASMANIA
The hotel "Lenna of Hobart" on McGregor Street.

Battery Point residents have been the centre of controversy in recent years, demanding noise restrictions and other measures aimed at safeguarding a sheltered lifestyle.

Errol Flynn

Hollywood film actor Errol Flynn was born in Battery Point at the Queen Alexandra Hospital in 1909.


Notable people

  • Francis Butler (1856–1885), cricketer
  • Errol Flynn (1909–1959), Hollywood film actor who was born in Battery Point at the Queen Alexandra Hospital.
  • Andrew Inglis Clark (1848–1907), Tasmanian Supreme Court judge, barrister, engineer, politician and author of the Australian constitution
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