Connaught Battery Park

This page is a subpage of Natural History/Specific Areas

Location of Connaught Battery Park. From Map Carta 21 Apr 2025 https://mapcarta.com/W700546914

Connaught Battery Park is not in the Backlands per se, but adjacent and shares the same landscape.

Park Overview

From: Connaught Battery Park Integrated Master Plan (46 MB, 118 pages)
April 2011.Prepared for: The Working Group for the Ferguson’s Cove and Purcell’s
Cove Neighbourhood Associations, by Bluestone Planning & Design. Forwarded by Sheila Stevenson.

“Connaught Battery Park is a 21.7 acre coastal property in the Ferguson’s Cove community of Halifax Regional Municipality. With exceptional views of the Halifax Harbour and harbour approach, the park is a relic of the city’s military past and a cherished open space enjoyed by the residents of the Purcell’s Cove and Ferguson’s Cove communities.

“Connaught Battery Park presents a valuable opportunity to enhance public access to the coast.The elevation and orientation of the site afford a unique view shed that includes a comprehensive picture of forts in the Halifax Defence Complex. As a cultural landscape the park provides a window onto part of the city’s historical identity.

“The park also provides an excellent resource for both passive and active recreational use for the neighbouring communities of Purcell’s Cove and Ferguson’s Cove .The site was first developed as a park in the 1990s after years of neglect following the land transfer from the federal to provincial government. Since 1996 the municipality has leased the land for use as a community park, investing in substantial site preparation and development of recreation facilities. Park development has occurred largely on an ad hoc basis.A long-term planning framework to guide the acquisition, management and further investment in Connaught Battery Park is desirable.”

GOOGLE MAPS IMAGE Apr 21, 2025. Note compass orientation: North is to the left of the image.

– Connaught Battery
Halifax Military Preservation Society
Photos, older amd recent. “The gun battery, part of the extensive Halifax Defence Complex, was built at Ferguson’s Cove near York Redoubt 1912-1916 and was operational during the latter part of the First World War. It was named in honor of and officially opened by the Duke of Connaught, a son of Queen Victoria who was also Canada’s Governor General at the time. Located on a 2.5 hectare site, the battery had a commanding view of the outer harbour. It included three 4.7 quick firing guns, barracks for a 70 man garrison drawn from the 1st (Halifax) Regiment, Canadian Garrison Artillery and was used to train troops before their deployment overseas. Following the end of hostilities the battery’s status was downgraded. During the Second World searchlights were operated at the site and it was used as temporary service quarters. It was designated a National Historic Site and today serves as a municipal park.

Connaught Battery and the Defence of the Atlantic Coast,
1906-1941
Roger Sarty & Bruce Ellis, Canadian Military History 18, 2 (2009)

“Connaught Battery, on the shores of Halifax harbour, has virtually been ignored by historians despite its prominence during a pivotal period in Canadian maritime defence. 1 After taking over the fortifications of Halifax from the British army in 1905-6, when the Imperial armed forces withdrew from the Canadian coasts, the Dominion government built the battery from 1913 to 1916 as part of a larger programme to bring the fortress up to date. The battery’s story bridges the transformation of the fortress from a British bastion against the United States to a Canadian strongpoint that guarded the North Atlantic shipping lanes upon which Britain’s survival depended during
the two world wars…”

Connaught Battery
On https://fortwiki.com Short description, some photos. Cites this useful map with diff. layers: Multi Maps from ACME

Connaught Battery Park Playground
On volunteerhalifax.ca

Connaught Battery Park Tennis Court
On volunteerhalifax.ca

iNaturalist Project: Connaught Battery Park & Environs

Click on image to go to project on iNaturalist

MORE MAPS – Connaught Battery Park & Environs
PLV: Nova Scotia Provincial Landscape Viewer

PLV Satellite Imagery, accessed 28Apr2025 Image during summer season

From PLV, World Imagery, accessed 28Apr2025 Image during off-season (no leaves on deciduous trees), hence can distinguish areas of evergreen and deciduous trees