Fort Tanjong Katong

Coordinates: 01°17′48″N 103°53′12″E / 1.29667°N 103.88667°E / 1.29667; 103.88667
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The excavated site of the south-eastern bastion of Fort Tanjong Katong at Katong Park, circa August 2006. The structure, part of the fort built by the British in 1879, was likely positioned to help soldiers get a good shot at lurking enemies

Fort Tanjong Katong, which stood from 1879 to 1901, was one of the oldest military forts built by the former

National Monument. As of May 2010, the National Heritage Board has stated that it has no plans to gazette the fort for the time being.[4]

History

An 1880 photograph of Fort Tanjong Katong
The SVA Gunners conducting a firing practice next to Fort Tanjong Katong around 1905

Fort Tanjong Katong was designed and built in 1879 by

British East India Company in 1819. On the island of Sentosa, Fort Siloso, Fort Connaught, Fort Serapong and Imbiah Battery were built around the same time as Fort Tanjong Katong, to guard the western and eastern entrances to the New Harbour (now Keppel Harbour).[5]

The fort was sitting atop a wet, low-lying coconut plantation and occupied an area of approximately two hectares, and had a small elevated battery of three

Mark VII 8 in (200 mm) breech-loading guns.[6]

"Wash-out Fort"

Beset by problems from the start, the Fort Tanjong Katong was nicknamed the "Wash-out Fort".[7] Due to the soft ground, each time the guns were fired, the range finding equipment would shake, and would need to be recalibrated. To make matters worse, it was difficult to find the ammunition for the new 8 in (200 mm) guns as it was not common in Singapore. The remoteness of the site, which hindered supply and reinforcement, reduced the effectiveness of Fort Tanjong Katong as a defensive position.[7]

Barely five years after upgrades were completed in 1888, it was suggested the fort be demolished. Debates over the fort lingered on between the Colonial Defence Committee in London, and the Local Defence Committee in Singapore for nearly a decade.[8] The fort was finally rendered obsolete and abandoned in 1901 when the guns were removed. Instead of destroying the fort, the British thought it simpler to bury it, which was done sometime after World War I.[3] A portion of a bastion was still visible above ground well into the 1960s, when a public park was built atop the fort for the fast-growing Katong suburbs. In the late 1960s, the bastion was finally buried when land reclamation in the East Coast took place, and its memory was soon forgotten in the ensuing decades.

Rediscovery

In 2001, the outline of the top of the bastion wall became visible during a dry spell; this prompted a Katong resident,

Group Representation Constituency, was the guest of honour at the event.[10]

The long-awaited excavation began on 29 September 2004, led by a handful of archaeologists and dedicated archaeology volunteers called Southeast Asian Archaeology. Nearly 2 metres down, the volunteers uncovered significant remains of the fort still

bastions that did not appear in the original plans, the perimeter of the moat's inner escarpment and what appears to be the drawbridge superstructure. Experts call it Singapore's only 'true fort'—one with protection all around—and it was considered one of Singapore's most important archaeological finds.[3]

The archaeological dig at the former Fort Tanjong Katong site, provided a unique opportunity for many like-minded Singaporeans to participate actively in uncovering the remains of the old fort. For nearly 10 months, more than 1,000 volunteers ranging from school students to housewives, retirees, working professionals on their off-days assisted the archaeologists on site and discovering first hand on the 125-year-old military fort.[10]

The

Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, a natural history research unit of the National University of Singapore, assisted with the analysis of marine artefacts and corals that were uncovered at the site, and some 36 bags of samples have been deposited with the museum for further analysis.[11] A Preliminary Site Report (dated 7 May 2006) was later compiled and submitted to the relevant authorities which outlined the research process, preliminary findings, variety of volunteers, and a list of the archaeology research team involved.[12]

Reburied again

To date, the excavation project at Fort Tanjong Katong has ended and only the south-eastern bastion, which was nearly fully excavated, has been cordoned off indefinitely (the south-western bastion was left untouched). Except for the cordoned off bastion, other exposed fort remains were reburied again in December 2005 by the National Parks Board, which runs the park, to protect them against the elements for future archaeologists to discover. It was also done because the dug-out pits could well breed mosquitoes; there were also fears that someone might fall into one of the 2 m-deep holes.[3] The remaining funds, about S$150,000, were ploughed back into bursaries and scholarships for the constituency's students.

The archaeology group is lobbying for the site to be gazetted as a

National Monument, and to incorporate the fort remains to be featured as part of the park in future. To date, its status is still pending while waiting for the final decision by the Preservation of Monuments Board and the Urban Redevelopment Authority.[8]

References

  1. ISBN 981-210-364-3
    .
  2. ^ a b c "History of Fort Tanjong Katong". The Straits Times. 9 April 2006. p. News section.
  3. ^ a b c d e Au, Jeremy (9 April 2006). "Buried, dug up—and buried again". The Straits Times. p. News section.
  4. ^ AsiaOne. "Fort Tanjong Katong will not be gazetted". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on 13 November 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
  5. ^ "Other historical forts in Singapore". The Straits Times. 9 April 2006. p. News section.
  6. ^ "List of other coastal batteries of Singapore". Fort Siloso. Archived from the original on 30 April 2007. Retrieved 16 April 2007.
  7. ^ a b "Fort Tanjong Katong (1879—1901)"—Information obtained from on-site information board erected by National Parks Board.
  8. ^ a b "Archaeology in Singapore—Fort Tanjong Katong". South East Asian Archaeology. Archived from the original on 13 August 2006. Retrieved 15 April 2007.
  9. ^ "Exhibition of Design Ideas for an Interpretative Centre at Katong Park" (PDF). National University of Singapore. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 October 2006. Retrieved 16 April 2007.
  10. ^ a b "$200,000 raised for excavation at Katong Park". The Straits Times. 28 November 2004. p. News section.
  11. ^ "19th century coral artefacts found at Fort Tanjong Katong dig". Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research. Archived from the original on 25 May 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2007.
  12. ^ Lim, Chen Sian. "Preliminary Site Report v1.2—Fort Tanjong Katong" (PDF). South East Asian Archaeology. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2007.

External links

01°17′48″N 103°53′12″E / 1.29667°N 103.88667°E / 1.29667; 103.88667

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