Cape Pallarenda Coastal Battery

The two gun 4.7-Inch coastal battery at Cape Pallarenda was built in 1943, to defend the northern entrance into Cleveland Bay, between the mainland and Magnetic Island. The battery elements are currently located on the lower slopes of Mount Marlow, and are reached by following Cape Pallarenda Road and then The Esplanade north past the former Townsville Quarantine Station, before walking into the Cape Pallarenda Conservation Park.

The two gun emplacements are constructed of reinforced concrete, each with a cantilevered concrete roof, and a shell store and cartridge store at the rear. A reinforced concrete two-level Battery Observation Post (BOP) is located southwest of (above) the guns, and two reinforced concrete searchlight emplacements are located closer to the shoreline to the northwest and southeast of the gun emplacements. There is also an open stone Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun emplacement west of the BOP and an MG pit north of the BOP.

There are numerous concrete slabs in the accommodation area, between the BOP and the track to its south, drainage systems along the paths and a substantial piece of curbing and guttering along the track to the gun emplacements. A levelled area below the BOP is surrounded by a stone pitched wall and steps, and the remains of a tennis court are located southwest of the BOP.