1. History

2. Buildings and Facilities

3. Lyemun Barracks Block 01

4. Pak Sha Wan Battery

5. Structures and historic buildings

6. References

7. External links

Lei Yue Mun Park and Holiday Village used to be Lyemun Barracks, barracks for the British Soldiers stationed in Hong Kong. It is located in the east of Shau Kei Wan, facing Lei Yue Mun, with an area of 22.97 Hectares. This is the only Holiday Village in the urban districts of Hong Kong (Hong Kong Island and Kowloon).

History

Lyemun Barracks was named after the fishing village of Lei Yue Mun. The old Lyemun Barracks was one of the earliest and most important British Army fortifications in Hong Kong. Situated at the northeast corner of Hong Kong Island overlooking the eastern approach to the Victoria Harbour, Lei Yue Mun occupied a strategic position. In 1885, the military decided to build a permanent infrastructure at Lei Yue Mun and later in 1889, the land was transferred to the War Depaertment for the construction. The Barracks comprised:

The Central Area: Main Barracks (Blocks 1-35, 48-52)

The Sai Wan Hill: Upper Fort (Sai Wan Fort)

The headland: (Lei Yue Mun Fort, now the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence, Pak Sha Wan Battery (Blocks 37-46).

The fortifications of Lei Yue Mun had already become an important point of coastal defense during the 1890s and continued to expand in the following decades. By the 1930s, however, the strategic importance of Lei Yue Mun had declined considerably as a result of technological and tactical advances.

On 19 December 1941, the Barracks fell into the hands of the Japanese. At 3:00 am, a troop of Japanese soldiers, in a car, broke through the fence, using bombs and killed the British Guards. The rest of the soldiers, around 100 British soldiers, were locked in a cannon loading room, until 9:30 pm, the Japanese ordered the soldiers to get out, and shot all of the soldiers, two Chinese-British soldiers survived by hiding under the corpses, escaping successfully.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}

The Barracks housed the Depot and Record Office of the Hong Kong Military Service Corps between 1948 and 1986. The Barracks were handed over to the Government in 1987 and were subsequently converted into the Lei Yue Mun Park and Holiday Village.^[1]

The whole former barracks compound is graded as Grade I historic building because of its historic significance. The buildings of the compound are graded as Grade I and II historic buildings separately, however.^[2]

After the Lyemun Barracks were left disabled and were handed over to the Government, the Southern Part was converted into the Lei Yue Mun Park and Holiday Village, while the Northern Part was left unused and lost until it was converted into the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence in 2000.

Buildings and Facilities

The Lei Yue Mun Park and Holiday Village have a total of 4 family hostels and 2 group hostels, all provided with balconies, bedrooms, and lavatories with showering facilities, it can contain the living of 282 people. It has transformed into a park/holiday village, with facilities such as rope courses, a horse-riding school (with a very steep hiking/hacking route up the nearby hillsides), tennis courts, basketball courts, football pitches, as well as many indoor games. The barracks that used to be for soldiers have been transformed into small living quarters for the holiday village.

The buildings were located across hillsides, with passageways linking them. And even though the Lyemun Barracks were converted into Lei Yue Mun Park and Holiday Village, there are still some buildings that were left deactivated and unused. An example would be Block 08, which is located behind Block 07 (The Coffee Corner).The area was listed as prohibited to enter as well. though tourists could follow a pathway behind Block 10 to reach it.

Another example would be Block 03, which is located diagonally from Block 04 (The Canteen). It was left unused and deactivated, and the area was listed as prohibited as well. Tourists must risk climbing a nearby stone slope, and over the iron wire mesh to enter. However, it is now confirmed that Block 03 will be converted into a quarantine facility, with the function to prevent epidemics from spreading in case of an outbreak.

Buildings in the holiday village have numbers printed on them to indicate which block they are, though some of these numbers may be difficult to spot. Some numbers have been printed on them long ago, during their days as part of the Lyemun Barracks. Some buildings however, have re-printed them on with a different font, or have even stripped off and removed these numbers.

Lyemun Barracks Block 01

Block 01, as opposed to the other structures, has a green and white appearance, and is now isolated and left deactivated, with glass pieces and concrete scattered across the damaged building, the damage weren't too severe however. According to several signs we have discovered, with the words 'Ladies Changing Room' and 'Please Shower Before Entering The Pool.', as well as what seems to be a dried up pool right beside it, we can confirm that Block 01 was formerly used as a Changing Room for soldiers to prepare for swimming workouts. Inside, there also seems to be a small room, used for showering purposes, and large pipes that have gone rusty. Unlike the other isolated blocks mentioned above, the map pointed out that Block 01 and the swimming pool are isolated from the main barracks area and the connecting bridge, and so soldiers back in the days must use staircases to reach Block 01, in which the path was later cut off by the Island Eastern Corridor. To reach Block 01, you must climb up the staircase which is now cut in half, and climb up a steep slope along the gutter. It's recommended that you be cautious while doing so, and not to attempt when the surface is wet due to rainy weather.

Pak Sha Wan Battery

There's a road right next to the Lei Yue Mun Public Riding School, with a locked gate preventing tourists from entering. According to the map, the road continues to stretch towards the coast, and crosses the Island Eastern Corridor as a bridge. Along the road are Blocks 37-46, and the Pak Sha Wan Battery, which were left isolated and lost from the Holiday Village. They're now claimed as property of the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defense. However, these places were not open to the public, and tourists would get inside themselves through various methods, either finding themselves on the bridge over the Island Eastern Corridor, or just inside the area. Along the road are leaves and tree branches that have not been removed or swept away, with a car parking gate left closed at the end of the bridge, the road then continues to the deactivated and isolated blocks of the former Lyemun Barracks.

Structures and historic buildings

The whole compound was graded as Grade I historic buildings; the historic buildings were graded separately.

The following are all structures of the former Lyemun Barracks, with some of them being Historic Buildings.^[1]

Note: Block 01 is isolated from the main compound and is not open to public. Blocks 39-46 are claimed by the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defense and are not open to public.

Number Location Note: [Original] implies that the number was painted on by soldiers since their construction, while [Printed] implies that it was re-printed on using a different font.

References

External links

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080315070517/http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/camp/en/p_lymp.php Official site]

• Lake County Forest Preserve
• Lake County, Ill.
• Lake County, Ind.
• Lake County Jane Doe (2007)
• Lake County Library System
• Lake County, Mich.
• Lake County mock stonecrop
• Lake County Sheriff's House and Jail
• Lake County stonecrop
• Lake County Superior Courthouse (demolished)
• Lake Creek (Charrette Creek)
• Lake Creek (Flat Creek)
• Lake Creek High School
• Lake Creek (Moose Creek)
• Lake Creek (Moose Creek tributary)
• Lake Creek (Siuslaw River)
• Lake Creek Township
• Lake Creek Township, Pennington County, South Dakota
• Lake Creek Township, Pettis County, Missouri
• Lake Crest Estates, Texas
• Lake Creteil
• Lake (CTA station)
• Lake Cut Bank
• Lake Cypress Springs
• Lake Dai