Daniels Head Submarine Mining Observation Station was approved for construction on 14th January 1891. Work commenced on April 18th 1891 and the work was completed on 31st January 1892. The total cost of the works was £191, slightly under budget.
The observing station was not the usual underground structure with steel roof. It was a stone building, similar in appearance to adjacent local houses. It contained three rooms, a bedroom, a kitchen and an observing room. The Observing Room itself faced the sea and was split level. The upper level was the actual observation position, while the lower floor was the Test Room.
It is believed that this position covered the submarine minefield leading the Chubb Cut, a sea passage through the reef. In about 1896 HMS Vixen was sunk as a block ship to cover this sea channel. It is assessed that after the sinking of this block ship, under the Daniel’s Head Channel Act (1887), there would have been no need for this Submarine Mining Observation Station.
Plans at the National Archives indicated Boundary Stones at the location and we were able to find one, WD 10. However this stone and number did not match the records held by the TNA.
The military land was subsequently used for an observation post and later by the Canadian Armed Forces as a signal station. Many of the old concrete block can still be seen on the ground which is now a dairy.