History

In the past Forts were common set ups to defend cities, towns, ports and other vulnerable areas to enemy attack. They were also commonly placed in areas where the local geography best lent itself for a defence position, such as on a cliff, hill, point or even a small island in the middle of a harbour such as Fort Denison in Sydney or even Alcatraz in San Francisco which was a Fort before it became an gaol.

Overseas disputes leading up to the 1870's such as the tension between Britain and Russia caused the colony concern, which led the government officials from all the colonies to draw up plans for a suitable defence system to defend the Australian Continent. South Australia's part was to build three forts along the Adelaide Coastline. Fort Glanville at Semaphore, Fort Largs at Largs Bay and Fort Glenelg at Glenelg. However the Fort at Glenelg was not built after the local residents of Glenelg successfully lobbied the South Australian Government to not build the Fort because the feared that it would make Glenelg a military target. A part of the Adelaide defensive plan was to also build a road to link the Forts to allow soldiers to quickly move between the Fort behind the cover of the sand dunes. This road later became known as Military Road and runs from Fort Largs in the north to the proposed location of Fort Glenelg in the south.

Fort Glanville was built near Semaphore on Point Malcolm a piece of land that jets into the Gulf of St Vincent which enables extensive views both up and down the coast. It was also built near Semaphore to defend both Semaphore and Port Adelaide as well as the entrance to the Port River.

Fort Glanville is extremely important in demonstrating South Australia's European Heritage and was the first of the Forts to be built with construction commencing in 1878 and completed in 1880, and continues to hold most of its original condition. It has been described as being one of the states most important historical sites which represents our Military heritage.

Fort Glanville had a relatively short lifespan as a military base and was never required to fire a shot in anger. In 1901, when Australia was federated, defence became a Federal Government responsibility, which meant that Fort Glanville was handed over to Federal Government control. The Fort was soon abandoned for military use after Federation. However the Fort was still utilised, but for different purposes and had many different uses over the next 100 years. During World War I the Fort was used as an observation post for enemy ship and during World War II the grounds were used for a test site for anti-tank guns. Also during the World Wars the Fort was also used as a detention camp and a magazine for the storage of ammunition. During the Great Depression of the 1930's the Fort was leased for private accommodation and then was later as a campsite for Boy Scouts. In 1937. the Federal Government sent scrap merchants to the Fort to take away useful metals and other materials. Luckily the barrels of the 10 inch guns were too large to cut up and the 64pdr guns had been donated by the army to the city council and were being used as monuments in public gardens in North Adelaide. Fort Glanville was sold back to the State Government in 1951 who turned the site into a caravan park. In the 1970's when the historical value of the Fort had begun to be recognised, the caravan park was moved to the south and restoration works on the Fort started (This means that the Government set out to return the Fort to being as close to how it was when it was first built). A ceremony was held to celebrate the centenary of the Fort in 1980, where one of the 64-pounder cannons was fired. Following this important event the Historical Association was formed and from 1981, on the 3rd Sunday of every month (September to May) Open Days take place were the volunteer give historical military demonstrations. This demonstration includes volunteers dressing up in replica 1880's military uniform and reliving activities that the soldiers would have taken part in when the Fort was first built. They perform marching drills, ground exercises on the parade and carbine,(a rifle used by the South Australian Permanent and Volunteer Artillery/soldiers that were barracked at Fort Glanville, a rifle with more accuracy and range then others that were around at that time) and cannon firing. An extremely important day for the Fort occurred on the 13th March, 1986 when Queen Elizabeth II visited. The Fort has become more and more well known and the visitor demand as well as the desire of those who maintain the Fort for the public to appreciate it has allowed the Fort to remain open for visitors from Wednesday to Saturday weekly (for guided and self-guided tours), as well as having open days on the third Sunday of each month.