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FORTRESS STUDY GROUP
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Casemate 77 |
The close of the Crimean War and escalating rivalries between the imperial powers in Europe led to their effects being felt in the far flung and remotest outposts of the colonies. Singapore in the late 19th century was no different. Alarming Russian encroachment in Central Asia and the Far East, rumors of Prussia's purchase of Langkawi (off the Northwest Coast of Malaysia) and the general ambitions of rival imperial powers gave rise to the perceived threats and the need for fortifications.
Built in 1879 as part of the series of defence positions covering the approaches to Singapore Town and the New Harbour (Keppel Harbour), Fort Tanjong Katong was the only fortification east of the town. It was designed to prevent any hostile cruisers or men-of-war from sailing up the eastern channel and anchoring out of range of the gun batteries situated to the west of the town and harbour.
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The fort began as a battery of three 7-in 7-ton RMLs before it was upgraded to fort status in 1885 with additional defensive works and the replacement of the guns with a pair of more powerful 8-in BLs. Owing to its isolated position, it was the only self defensible Singapore fort, but it led a short life. Becoming a victim of the escalating arms race, advances in military technology and lack of funds for a proper garrison, it was soon obsolete and was abandoned around 1901.
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The next century would see the fort forgotten and neglected, relegated to memories. Sometime in the early 1930s, the fort was converted into a public park with a bandstand and swimming enclosure on the beachfront. Today the site remains a public park managed by the National Parks Board of Singapore. Various phases of development, including the reclamation of the entire East Coast in 1969, along with the closure of the public swimming bay led to a decline in park patrons and what few memories there were of the fort soon vanished. The only indication of the existence of the former military installation was the name of the road which led there - 'Fort Road'.
In 1992, Mr Jack Sim, a resident new to the area became inquisitive about the toponym of the road, and found traces of structural remains that might be remnants of the fort, and started a campaign to raise awareness of local heritage. From September 2004 to April 2005, an archaeological project initiated by the district's Member of Parliament, Mr Andy Gan, through the area's grassroots organization, Mountbatten Citizen's Consultative Committee (CCC), launched the 'Raising History, Planting Roots' project to excavate the forgotten fort. Led by archaeologists from the National University of Singapore's Asia Research Institute and Southeast Asian Studies Programme, the project is designed to encourage ownership of heritage by the local community, enlisting local area residents and schools to help out with the excavation work.
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Through the voluntary efforts of some two dozen schools, large numbers of area residents, friends, and well-wishers, significant portions of fort remains have been identified and excavated. To date, the east, west and north perimeter of the inner moat escarp has been revealed, along with the drawbridge superstructure, and two caponiers along with glacis and ramparts have been uncovered. Also recovered are large quantities of artifacts dating back to the 1970s when the entire eastern shoreline was undergoing large scale land reclamation. However, excavations have only revealed a thin cultural layer attesting to the late C19th period of the fort. Little else was known about the fort and the few historical records mockingly christened the short lived Fort Tanjong Katong as the 'washed out fort'.
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The remains of the fort's perimeter moat escarp measures 65mx95m. Two passageways leading into the caponiers have been identified and the southeast caponier excavated. The passages are at least 30m in length and are constructed of standard bricks and mortar, while the surrounding baulk consist of an infill of earth and sand. The preservation of the caponiers is excellent and even the glass shards embedded on the top of the walls to deter intruders from scaling over, are still in situ.
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One of the most interesting remaining features is the drawbridge superstructure; historical records tell of it being the rolling type, which would have measured some 14ft in length.
Drawbridge hinge.
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Surrounding the fort is a moat whose flanks are reported to be 100ft wide.
In Singapore, funding for archaeological works is often non-existent or on a shoestring, hence archaeological digs and post-excavation processing of artifacts has always been dependent on volunteer labour. The first ever dig in 1984 at Fort Canning Park saw the military dispatching a truckload of soldiers to aid with the excavations. Volunteers at the Fort Tanjong Katong site are put through a series of supervised field work activities which include stratigraphic excavations, artifacts screening, and processing of the finds on site. Many of them were enthusiastic enough to return day after day working tirelessly through tropical rain storms and scorching sun.
This project is perhaps a unique parallel to archaeology in Singapore; development on the island of Singapore has been rampant since the East India Company representative Thomas Stamford Raffles first set foot upon it in 1819. Perhaps never in his wildest dreams did Raffles envision a thriving cosmopolitan city that today is able to rival the most urban of settlements. However, widespread development and construction in the name of progress resulted in much of the city-state's historical and archaeological past being demolished and forgotten. Fort Tanjong Katong was until 1970 still visible above ground and within the living memory of those that frequent the park. Similarly other potential archaeological sites from the colonial period lie derelict, overgrown with underbrush, and forgotten.
Tanjong Katong is by no means the only fortification constructed in Singapore; its sister forts Siloso, Makang Mati East (later Connaught), Serapong, Teregeh, and Pasir Panjang were all built within the same decade, to further strengthen the existing older forts and batteries of Canning, Fullerton, Palmer, and Faber. Most of the other forts were improved upon and continued into service right up to the Battle for Singapore during WWII. Many of these forts still exist and have significant potential for archaeological investigations in the future.
The archaeology team of Fort Tanjong Katong project would like to take this opportunity to thank the Fortress Study Group, particularly Charles Blackwood, for their kind correspondences and assistance in making available relevant articles from the Fortress Study Group Journal.
(Fortress Singapore, by PK Yeoh, FORT 7 1979; The Russian scare - Harbour forts of Auckland, New Zealand, by John Mitchell, FORT 21. Ed.)
For more information regarding the archaeological investigations at Fort Tanjong Katong or in Singapore, please visit our website: www.seaarchaeology.com
