The Randwick Barracks is situated on land originally part of the Church and School Estate, dedicated in 1829. The site was seen as undesirable for settlement due to the quality of the land, but was used for recreational activities, with Rifle matches reportedly held somewhere in the area during the 1860s.
By the late 1880s, the need for a new rifle range had arisen, and as a large portion of the Church and School Estate had yet to be developed, the Musketry Office approached the Church and School Corporation for use of part of the land as a Rifle Range.
By mid-1891, the Randwick Rifle Range was completed, with the NSW Musketry Office, Rifle Reserve Companies and Defence Force Rifle Clubs using the range for practice and training purposes.
Complaints over the dangers of stray bullets hitting neighbouring residents and houses has been received since the range's conception. It came to a head in 1924, when the Rifle Range was officially closed, and only short range target practice undertaken by the Small Arms School remained. The army continued to use the site for training, with the range being one of only five permanent Army schools in Australia during the interwar period, run by the AIC (Australian Instructional Corps) between 1921 and 1942. The Small Arms School, despite expanding some during the 1930s, was moved in 1942 to Victoria.
During World War II, Australia was chosen to hold supplies for Allied Naval fleets. Initially many depots were used but eventually the Randwick Rifle Range was decided as the site to consolidate the supplies. The Army had remained highly active at the site and further development had been implemented. The stores were later demolished in the early 2000s.
In 2010, 13 Hectares of land on the eastern side of the site was given to the Randwick City Council to be set aside as parkland, bushland and wetland, now known as Randwick Environment Park.
