Fort Rodd Hill

Yesterday's photo of the Fisgard Lighthouse is the default photo for this area although there are actually two distinct National Historic Sites at Fort Rodd Hill. The photogenic Fisgard Lighthouse of course gets the most attention. For photographers, the other National Historic Site that you walk through on your way to the lighthouse, Fort Rodd Hill, is a greater challenge. It's not very dramatic or colorful and in place of the sentimental and inspiring connotations of a lighthouse on the rocks, the rather gloomy cement battlements hugging the ground give rise to inescapable associations with conflict and bloodshed, although Fort Rodd Hill was only intended for defense. Nevertheless, those holes in the walls were for riflemen to shoot through should the Fort ever have been attacked. The big guns pointed out over the water, guarding the entrance to Esquimalt Harbour, and we'll have a look at them tomorrow. The top photo is inside the Lower Battery. The photo to the right was taken inside the Upper Battery where a few wooden guns have been provided for visitors to aim through the embrasures. Below is a wider view of the Lower Battery. The small red-roofed building on the right of the battery was the canteen.