Fort Scratchley area has been known by a few names in the past.
- Braithwaite Head
- Coal Head
- Captain Allan’s Hill
- Fort Fiddlesticks
- Flagstaff Hill
- Signal Hill
- Beacon Hill
- Fortification Hill
- Fort Scratchley
Braithwaite Head
On the morning of Tuesday, the 16th June, 1801, there was rain with thunder and lightning during the night, and at daylight the weather was fair and cloudy. Lieutenant Governor Paterson and Lieutenant Grant then went on shore to examine the strata of coal, taking with them Mr. J. L. Platt, who had worked on the coal seams for Captain Meehan and others. The party landed at the base of the point named Braithwaite Head by Lieutenant Shortland, but better known as Signal Hill.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 27 October 1897.
Coal Head
Captain Allan’s Hill
The Old Flagstaff Hill.— A small landslip from this Hill (commonly known as Captain Allan’s Hill) took place on Monday last, and there are further indications of there being a much larger one, as there is a large crack on the side facing the sea. Preparations have been made by driving in piles and making a barricade so that should a full of land take place, the houses below it, occupied by the pilots and those engaged in the harbour department may be protected from destruction.
The Newcastle Chronicle, 29 December 1870.
Fort Fiddlesticks
In the early days of the settlement a coal fire beacon was always burning at night from Allan’s Hill, now known as Fort Scratchley. A signal station was erected on this eminence in 1822 by Lieutenant Close, of the 48th Regiment, who had charge of the convicts working at the breakwater, and until Nobbys light was finished the beacon was always burning, the coal being obtained from under the hill. There was also an earthen battery in the eminence during the early days, and in 1840 it consisted of seven old guns. The convicts called the place “Fort Fiddlestick,” and on more than one occasion when salutes were being fired the gunners were injured by premature explosions.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 27 August 1895.
Flagstaff Hill
Signal Hill
Beacon Hill
On the point of land near the signal station he [Lieutenant Edward Charles Close] built a fort, on which he mounted seven guns. On the top of a mound near the signal station he built a pagoda house for the signalman, and constructed a large iron beacon-stand a few feet above the surface, on which there was a large coal fire lighted every evening at sunset. This beacon-light consumed half a ton of coal per night, giving a large and clear light viible in fine weather about 20 miles at sea. This constituted Newcastle’s apology for a lighthouse for more than a quarter of a century. It terminated its existence on what was then called Beacon Hill at midnight on the 31st of December, 1857, when Nobbys’ lighthouse shed its first rays of light for the guidance of mariners.
Newcastle morning herald and Miners’ Advocate, 8 April 1898.
Fortification Hill
Fort Scratchley
This page is part of the collection of Newcastle’s Obsolete Place Names.