Not the Newington Armory!
Depot Names
When the ex-Royal Australian Navy Armament Depot at Newington was incorporated into Sydney Olympic Park it was renamed Newington Armory. This is not an historical name but understandable from a marketing perspective, although one could debate the choice of US spelling rather than the English "armoury".
An advantage of the "Newington Armory" name is that it subsumes a variety of names used in the past under varying management, whilst preserving the essential meaning of those names, i.e. a place where ammunition was stored and maintained.
The names applied to the site varied quite a bit over the years. Here is a list of some of the earlier ones:
- 1897 - Military Reserve (official)
- 1897 - Government Powder Magazine (press)
- 1902 - Newington Magazine (official)
- 1904 - Newington Military Magazine (press)
- 1914 - Newington Magazine (official)
- 1915 - Newington Magazine (official)
- 1916 - Defence Reserve at Newington (official)
- 1918 - Government Powder Magazine (press)
- 1921 - R.A. Naval Ordnance Depot, Newington Reserve (official)
- 1924 - Newington Powder Magazine (press)
- 1928 - Newington Munitions Depot (press)
- 1947 - Newington Naval Armament Depot (press)
The name under which the site appears in the NSW State Heritage Inventory remains "Newington Armament Depot and Nature Reserve". Any future variation to the name "Newington Armory" should preserve the association to the military and naval physical and cultural heritage for which the site is state-heritage listed.
As envisaged by the Sydney Olympic Park Masterplan 2050 the Newington Armory will sit within a larger section of the Millennium Parklands to be known as Riverfront Park. There is potential for dual naming of this park, to reflect the indigenous history of the Homebush Bay area.
During the period 1921 to around 1965, Newington was officially just a sub-depot of the Naval (later RAN) Armament Depot, Sydney. The size of the war-time depot, however, necessitated some additional descriptors so common usage was to refer to the Newington Depot (northern end), the Homebush Depot (brickworks), the Auburn Depot (southern end) and the Carnarvon Depot (ex US Navy area).
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Speaking generally, the following terms used for places like Newington are synonymous:
- Armament Depot
- Ammunition Depot
- Armoury (Armory)
- Arsenal
- Magazine
- Ordnance Depot (a generic term which may also refer to non-explosive storage)
The term "Arsenal" is more usually applied to places where munitions are manufactured - in the Australian context the term is rarely used after about 1930 but could well be applied to a government filling factory or explosives factory of the period 1910 through 1980. It could also be applied collectively in an all-encompassing sense, e.g. "The Australian government's naval arsenal."
In 1826 the Sydney Gazette (24 May 1826) reported that:
"Goat Island, ... is on the eve of being converted into a naval arsenal, and Mr. Nicholson, the Master Attendant, who seems highly delighted with the measure, is most anxious that the views of His EXCELLENCY may be promptly carried into the fullest effect."
The terms "Armoury/Armory" and "Magazine" both have multiple meanings. Armoury/Armory may mean a building or group of buildings used to store explosives, but may also apply to a secure area within a building used for the storage of small arms weapons, e.g. "The pistols were kept within the base armoury.". The original usage of "magazine" was in the singular, but as one magazine never seems to be enough, the term was extended to cover a group of magazines. Thus it may mean a group of buildings used to store explosives or a single building within the group. It would be quite correct to refer to the Isolation magazine at the Newington Magazine. In a technical context, "magazine" was also used as distinct from "explosives storehouse" to denote a place used to store dusty explosives that require special precautions. Magazine also has the alternative meanings of a space within a warship or fort used for the storage of ammunition and the attachment for an automatic weapon from which the ammunition is dispensed.
The term "Magazine" (alternatively, Powder Magazine or Gunpowder Magazine) was in common use early in the 17th century, e.g.:
"1637, 17th November. Office of Ordnance. Officers of Ordnance to Lords of the Admiralty. Mr. Cordewell has brought into his Majesty's Magazine from 1st November 1636 to 7th November 1637 several quantities of good corn gunpowder, of which a detailed account is given, and which amount in the whole to 240 lasts, which is his full year's proportion according to his contract. (S. P. Dom. Charles I, vol. ccclxxi, No. 117.)"
In the earliest days of the Sydney colony the term "magazine" was used for government storehouses generally; it was only after about 1820 that usage narrowed to refer specifically to gunpowder magazines.
"Magazine" is derived from the French magasin, from Italian magazzino, from Arabic makhazin, plural of makhzan, a store-house.
For colloquial use, the terms "ammo dump" and "bomb dump" may not be pretty, but people will generally understand what you are referring to.
A Newington Story
This story may be apocryphal but it is said that at one time there was a signpost at the corner of Silverwater Road and Holker Street at Silverwater pointing the way to the "Newington Magazine". A letter was received at the depot one day addressed to:
"The Editor
Newington Magazine"
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