Lei Yue Mun – Lei Yue Mun Rest Garden 1920s
360-degree panoramic artwork created by Tony Cheng
Historical Hotspots:
Lei Yue Mun Barracks
Lei Yue Mun Barracks was one of the earliest and most important British Army fortifications in Hong Kong. Located on the northeast corner of Hong Kong Island, the barracks consisted of three areas: the central area (main barracks), the western ridge (upper fort) and the headland (lower fort). The main barracks, built at different times from 1890 to 1939, mainly served as offices, married quarters for the British Army and training grounds until the British troops withdrew from the barracks in 1987.
Block 10 was originally built as a soldiers’ quarters for the British Royal Artillery. It has been conserved as the Lei Yue Mun Park since 1988. Additionally, Block 7, Block 10 and Block 25 of the Lei Yue Mun Barracks were declared as monuments in 2016.
Photo courtesy of Hong Kong Museum of History
Lyemun Redoubt
Lyemun Redoubt was constructed in 1887 as the core military structure of the Lei Yue Mun Fort. The redoubt was located on the headland of Lyemun Pass with an elevation of 64 metres and surrounded by defensive trenches. It was also equipped with two 6-inch breech-loading (BL) disappearing guns with hydro-pneumatic mountings. After each firing of these two guns, the hydro-pneumatic mountings brought the guns back into the emplacement for gunners to reload projectiles. The central courtyard was where soldiers gathered and dispersed daily.
In view of its historical significance, the former Urban Council decided to conserve the Lyemun Redoubt and develop them as the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence in 1993. The museum was opened to the public in 2000, showcasing the changes in Hong Kong’s coastal defence and military affairs over the past century.
Photo courtesy of Hong Kong Museum of the War of Resistance and Coastal Defence.
Lei Yue Mun Lighthouse
Located on the rock south of Sam Ka Tsuen, the No. 88 navigation mark, commonly known as Lei Yue Mun Lighthouse, is now one of the most photogenic spots in Lei Yue Mun.
Lei Yue Mun Lighthouse and the No. 89 navigation mark on the opposite side, also known as A Kung Ngam Lighthouse, were established in 1902 as no-light aids to navigation to help boats navigate in and out of the harbour. It was not until 1924 that these navigation aids were installed with acetylene lights.
Lei Yue Mun Lighthouse’s height was shorter in the past and its wall was painted in a black-and-white checkerboard pattern. In 1964, the lighthouse was remodelled to its present shape and height. In 1989, both the light and the tower wall were changed to green in colour to meet the standards of the International Association of Lighthouse Authorities. Additionally, in 2010, the lighthouse was powered by solar power. Both lighthouses still mark the east harbour limit of Victoria Harbour.
Photo courtesy of Jockey Club Lei Yue Mun Plus
Carp Rock
Carp Rock, as the name suggests, is a rock that looks like a carp (in Cantonese: Lei5 Jyu4). One of the widely known anecdotes about the origins of Lei Yue Mun is that many reefs and rocks along the Lyemun Pass, e.g. those beside the lighthouse and behind the Tin Hau Temple, look like the shape of carp. The rocks appear like carp leaping out of the sea whenever the waves hit the reefs. Meanwhile, as the entrance of the Victoria Harbour, Lyemun Pass is the ‘door’ (in Cantonese: Mun4) of the harbour. This is the most commonly known story to explain why this place is called Lei Yue Mun (in Cantonese: Lei5 Jyu4 Mun4).
Photo courtesy of Jockey Club Lei Yue Mun Plus.
Devil’s Peak
Devil’s Peak (also known as Demon’s Peak) was named after the history of pirates in Lei Yue Mun. It is said that the pirate Zheng Lianchang and his followers once occupied this mountain and collected tolls from ships entering and leaving the Lyemun Pass in the Qing Dynasty.
Devil’s Peak was also known as the Peak of the Battery (in Cantonese: Paau3 Toi4 Saan1), when the Gough Battery, Pottinger Battery and the Devil’s Peak Redoubt were constructed in 1903. Due to the change of defence strategy in 1936, the 9.2-inch Gough and Pottinger cannons were removed. After World War II, the military fortifications on Devil’s Peak were gradually abandoned.
Photos courtesy of Maj JGB McAndrew RA and David Bellis
Animation:
HMS Hermes was a ship of the British Royal Navy and the first aircraft carrier to come to Hong Kong. Completed in 1918, it arrived in Hong Kong in 1925. It served in the China Station and was responsible for Hong Kong’s coastal defence between the 1920s and 1930s, including defeating pirates and serving as an air base in Hong Kong.