Fort Lytton...

A few Sundays ago, DH didn't play golf as usual and he suggested that it was a perfect opportunity for us to visit Fort Lytton. This is a historical site on the southern side of the Brisbane river about 18km from the centre of the city and therefore, quite close to the mouth of the river. It is now a National Park and is usually only opened to the public on Sundays only. There are some 'special days' when the park is opened and people dress up in old uniforms and re-enact how the fortress was operated.

Colonial soldier's helmet and army issue eating utensils...

A mannikin wearing an old colonial uniform, sitting in front of a replica army tent

Some of the remaining buildings of the quarantine station; the chimney is part of the giant incinerator which burned immigrants belongings if disease was found...

One of the old military buildings

The site contains a fortress (built in 1881, in response to the fear that the Russians could attack :-/), complete with a moat, and a quarantine  station which was meant to protect the then colony from infectious diseases being brought in by immigrants. The Russians did not ever invade any of the Australian colonies but the fort was designed to 'support underwater river mines and prevent attacks on Brisbane's port facilities by enemy ships'.

Replica mines of the type used to protect the mouth of the river

Fort Lytton became an important military training establishment and by the time WW1 broke out, it had a number of heavy guns, including 2 machine guns with which to defend Brisbane. No shots were ever fired in 'anger' as no invaders came. After WW2, the army no longer used the site and in 1963, the land was acquired by the oil company Ampol for a refinery.In 1988 the State government took over ownership of the actual fort and it has now been added to the Queensland Parks and wildlife Service. The quarantine station was closed in 1982 but the buildings are closed to the public.

Our guide, Joe, showing us the moat which originally encircled the fortress. The actual fort is nestled into the hill behind that building in the photo.

We've walked around the mound of earth and are now walking towards the fort buildings...

The signals and radio room...

This was originally where mines were stored before being laid in the river...a very dangerous job apparently!

The view looking towards the mouth of the Brisbane River

A fellow Brisbane blogger Foto Fantastic, who blogs about the history of this city has also written a post about Fort Lytton here.
It was a very interesting couple of hours for DH and I. Guides are volunteers and many of them, including Joe, our guide, are ex soldiers. I'll probably do another post on Fort Lytton as we took lots of photos. lol