Image: Chapel Point Battery Site

Description: Chapel Point Battery Site is a World War II era fortification site at Sydney Mines, Cape Breton Island, built to guard Sydney Harbour. Chapel Point includes an observation post and gun batteries and several below ground fortifications. The buildings and underground fortifications are all included in the designation as well as the surrounding property. HERITAGE VALUE Chapel Point is valued historically as it played a significant role in the defense of Sydney Harbour during World War II. It is also valued architecturally for its massive construction and such details as deeply placed magazines. It is unique among Canada's wartime coastal defences. Chapel Point was built in 1939 by E.G.M. Cape Construction Company. Working in conjunction with Fort Petrie, located across the harbour, Chapel Point guarded Sydney Harbour. Both sites protected departing convoys and naval ships based at nearby Point Edward Naval Base from German submarines that patrolled waters surrounding eastern Canada, as well as local industry, which was vital to the war effort . Because of its proximity to the cod fishery, coal mines and the entrance to central Canada through the St. Lawrence River, Sydney Harbour was a strategic defense location, second only to Halifax. Chapel Point consisted of a battery observation post, gun emplacements, and an extensive underground system housing magazines, and unidentified restricted areas. Chapel Point was decommissioned in 1943 and largely dismantled in 1948. The town of Sydney Mines later purchased the site.
Title: Chapel Point Battery Site
Credit: Own work
Author: Ken Heaton
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Attribution Required?: Yes