Fort Canning Park or Fort Canning Hill (Chinese: 福康宁, pinyin: Fúkāngníng, Malay: Bukit Larangan, Tamil: Pokamutiyatha Arasarin Malai ) is located on or is a small hill, about 60 metres high. It is located in the center of Singapore, overlooking the central business district to the south, Singapore river and Clark Quay to the west, and Orchard road to the east.
Amazing reliefs at the southern entrance and along the way up the hill.
Fort Canning Hill was known as Bukit Larangan, Forbidden Hill in Malay, before the arrivals of the British. It was also believed to be
haunted by former kings of Temasek who had palaces and were buried there. Even at the time of Raffles ruins of ancient brick
buildings were found here, and contemporary archealogical excavations have also confirmed the existence of a regional trading hub prior to the 14th century. The trading post was on the banks of the Singapore river stretching to Fort Canning Hill and was dependent on fresh water being supplied by the Forbidden Spring on the slope of Fort Canning Hill. Ancient Malay and Chinese sources mention that Singapore had a moat and wall (Parit Singapura). When
the British first arrived the wall still stood. It was earthen, about 5
meters wide and 3 meters high. By today it has completely disappeared. (These pictures are from the signs of the 14th century Singapore route around Fort Canning Hill.)
Wang Dayuan, a Chinese merchant who visited Singapore around 1330 and wrote his travel notes in 1349, Singapore was attacked by people from Siam, but Singaporeans were able to resist the aggressors for a month, by closing the gates of the city, until being rescued by a passing Chinese fleet.
Singapore (Temasek) was attacked again in 1396, and the ruler Paremswara fled with his people north to Malaya. They founded a new capital at Melaka, which has started to overshadow Singapore more an more during the 15th century.
In the 16th to the 18th centuries Malays, the Portuguese and later the Dutch have fought frequent and fierce wars in the waters around Singapore. Although Singapore was relatively unimportant until the British arrived in 1819, the Portuguese have burnt Singapore in 1613 as part of a campaign against the Melakan Sultanate, so there probably was a settlement of some significance here.
Near the summit of the hill, a John Crawfurd has seen extensive ruins in 1822. (The summit was leveled in 1860 when the fort was built.) The largest building stood on a terrace of about 12 meters on each side, and had 14 sandstone blocks that had probably supported wooden posts holding up the roof of a wooden building. There was also a circular enclosures of rough sandstones, potentially supporting a statue of Buddha.
This is a Keramat, a sacred place in Malay, perhaps the Keramat considering that this is the only one on the hill, located on the eastern slope. A Keramat is the traditional burial ground of a revered leader. It is
uncertain who is buried here. Although this is purportedly the
tomb of Raja Iskandar Shah, the last king of Temasek who ruled in the
14th century. A 14th
century-styled Malay roof called a pendopo, supported by twenty wooden
pillars, carved in a fighting cock motif of Javanese origin, is built over the tomb.
Stamford Raffles chose to build his his first residence on the hill for the beautiful and commanding view it offered over his colony. The site served as residence for a long line of
Governors as well. With the establishment of
Government House on the hill in 1822, for a while the
hill was referred to as Government Hill.
The hill's ancient role as a center of information can be seen through the various communication devices that were installed by the British in the area around the governor's house. The first such device was the flagstaff (see in the picture above). It was built in the 1820s, and it was part of a communication system which used coded flags to convey a wide range of information to the public.
The next device set up was the time ball. Raised at 12.55pm and dropped at 1pm, it helped people to keep time. Providing time signals has been an important public service provided by governments since the ancient Greeks and Romans constructed the first public time-keeping devices such as sundials and water clocks. They were a common way to provide the public with a signal of the correct time in the 19th century.
In the 1850s, the telegraph came into general use. Singapore's first telegraph office was set up on the hill, near the flagstaff. A lighthouse was built on the highest point of the hill in 1902, helping to guide ships to safe anchorage.
There are a number of heritage trees on the Hill. This one is the Flame of the Forest. It is native to Madagascar and is widely cultivated for ornamental plantings in the tropics. It is named for the flaming-red flowers covering the crown when it is in full bloom, usually after a prolonged dry spell and lasting only a few days. The flowers possess a prominent uppermost petal, which is streaked yellow and white.
This is another heritage tree. I really liked its roots :)
This is the Ministry of Communication from the back, on the way up the hill.
The view to the west. Clark Quay (and the invisible Singapore river).
The current
name of the hill, Fort Canning Hill, comes from the fort that was
established at the
site of Government House (which was demolished to make way for the
fort), in 1859 or 1960. The hill was then transferred from civil to
military ownership. The fort was named after Viscount Charles John
Canning,
the Governor-General of India at that time and its first Viceroy.
To build the fort, the top of the hill was leveled by 400 coolies to create a flat area of 7 acres/3 hectares. It was an elaborate fort complex of barrack blocks for Indian and European soldiers, hospital, gunpowder magazines
and supporting artillery. It was demolished in 1926 to make way for a reservoir.
Raffles'
front yard became the South Battery of the Fort. It had seven 68-pound
guns, eight 8" guns, two 13" mortars and some 14-pound cannonades. Most
of these were situated on the south battery, behind a brick wall,
overlooking the town and harbor. Large semi-subterranean gunpowder
magazines were also constructed here. The guns were mounted on carriages
which could be pivoted to enable the guns to cover a wide arc of fire.
Because of peaceful conditions during the late 19th and early 20th
century, the guns were never used against an enemy. The only time they
were ever fired was to salute important visitors and to signal the time
of day: a
cannon was fired 3 times a day (at 5 a.m., 1 p.m. and 9 p.m.) in
colonial times to announce the hour.
This is one of a pair of 9-pound cannons, used as decorations for the main gate of the Fort. They are
meant to shoot a 9-pound cannonball. Such guns were not used at Fort
Canning, they date from the early 19th century and had become obsolete
before the Fort was built.
The view from the South Battery.
The Gate of Fort Canning with a little bit of wall, and the Sally Port are all that remain of the fort.
Inside of the gate.
Outside the gate.
Sally ports are small doors which lead in and out of forts. They are meant to help defenders enter or exit the fort undetected and to be used in case of attack. The word sally means to make sudden vigorous exit if an enemy is besieging a fort, the defenders can try to make a sudden attack through the sally port and surprise the enemy outside. Fort Canning had at least three such ports, beside this one (on the southeast/east side), one on the northwest and one on the south sides.
Under the British Army, the fort served as the headquarters of the Singapore Base District until WWW II has spread into the Asia Pacific in 1941. In February 1942, Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival established his command post of the Malayan Command at the fort to attempt to defend the island from the invading Japanese forces. The Underground Command Centre is located some 9 meters underground in
Fort Canning Park. It was the largest military operations complex in
Singapore. It is also called the Fort Canning Bunker or Battle Box, and this is where the decision to surrender
Singapore to the Japanese was made by the British.
Unfortunately it is currently closed.
The Japanese also used the fort as a military post, until the end of the occupation in 1945. In 1945 the British Army resumed control, to hand the fort to the Singaporean military in 1963, following Singapore's move towards self-determination. It was headquarters of the 4th Malaysian Infantry
Brigade until December 1966, to be handed over to the Singapore Armed Forces, who built the Singapore Command and Staff College here by 1970. (I don't quite understand how all this is reconciled with the fact that the fort was razed in 1929...)
I think this is the most important function of the hill today. It houses a
covered reservoir on its summit, which is of course off limits.
On the top of the hill there is also a sculpture garden. Some of the sculptures are rather interesting.
Raffles, himself a keen botanist, had the first botanical garden of Singapore planted on the hill. It was however the idea of Nathaniel Wallich, a Dane who became superintendent
of the Royal Gardens at Calcutta in 1815. The Spice Garden is located at the site of and replicates Raffles' garden.
I just really liked the frame and pole of this sign...
This is Fort Canning Centre, currently under refurbishment, that served as a barracks for the British Army. The building has been used as a squash center (for a while squash was one of the most popular sports in Singapore), then it became a dance center with dance studios. And if I remember correctly, they are building restaurants or a restaurant there now.
The Centre looks on Fort Canning Green. It was the old Christian Cemetery until 1865. Of the cemetery only a few tombs/graves remain untouched in the southeast corner. And they are interesting graves as well!
The entrance originally to the cemetery, now to the Green, is two Gothic gates, designed by Captain Charles Edward Faber, Superintending Engineer.
The walls mark the edges of the old Christian Cemetery, and enclose Fort Canning Green. Tablets of the gravestones from the cemetery are embedded in them.
Jose D'Almeida must have been one of the most prominent Singaporeans buried in the cemetery, because a sign details his life: He settled in Singapore in 1825, after bringing his large family from Macau. He open a dispensary at the top of Raffles Place where the Mercantile Bank is today, where he also established the mercantile firm of Jose D'Almeida & Sons. When he died in 850, the firm was the biggest and the most important in Singapore. On a visit to Europe in 1842 he was knighted by the Queen of Portugal and appointed Consul-General to the Straits Settlements. Just before his death at 66, he was made a member of the Queen's council in Portugal. Spain conferred on him the Order of Knighthood of Charles the Third. Unfortunately, his tombstone is mostly illegible.
And here he is, George Coleman: The architect, George Doumgold Coleman, Esq., of Drocheda Ireland, was Raffles' consultant on the first Town Plan and beginning in 1833 Superintendent of Public Woks. He contributed much to the settlement's infrastructure by overseeing land reclamation, draining of marshes, construction of roads and other massive public projects. He built many elegant private houses adapting the English 18th century Palladian style of architecture to the tropics. Coleman took charge of the works at the Christian cemetery: the fencing of the burial ground, the two gateways to the cemetery, and the cupolas. The cupolas designed by Coleman himself, are of interesting classical shape. He was also responsible for designing the nearby Armenian Church and a private house, which, having been enlarged and modified, is today's Parliament House. Coleman died in Singapore on the 27th of March 1844 and was buried at Fort Canning. It is true to say that no other individual in the East contributed so much to the growth and architecture of a city.
Construction works, in preparation of an open-air concert.
There are two cupolas on the Green as well. They are designed by
Coleman, the famous architect, also buried in the Cemetery (see above). The date or
purpose of their construction is unknown, probably intended as places of
rest, to take in the tranquility of the hill.
