Walking Southern Vancouver Island - Fort Rodd Hill - Canadian National Historic Site - Upper Battery

Walking Southern Vancouver Island - Fort Rodd Hill - Canadian National Historic Site - Upper Battery. Built 1895-97. The single 6-inch disappearing gun here was identical to two in Lower Battery and three others at Macaulay Point, east of Esquimalt Harbour. The new forts at Rodd Hill and Macaulay replaced the “temporary” muzzle-loading gun batteries of 1878. As the westerly anchor of the defences of this period, Fort Rodd Hill’s relatively isolated location meant that any land assault would have to be held off until infantry forces arrived from Esquimalt’s Work Point Barracks, more than 10 km away. While primarily designed for defence against attacks from the sea, several features of the fort’s construction reflect this need for landward defence. Today, the Upper Battery represents the site during the late Victorian period. (Government of Canada Historic Sites website)