Fort Denison

Fort Denison Review

For a brief time in the early days of the colony, convicts who committed petty offenses were kept on this harbor island, where they existed on such a meager diet that the island was named Pinchgut. Fortification of the island began in 1841, but was abandoned when cash ran out. It was finally completed in 1857, when fears of Russian expansion in the Pacific spurred the government on. Today the firing of the fort's cannon doesn't signal imminent invasion, but merely the hour—one o'clock. New South Wales National parks run half-hour tours at Fort Denison. Purchase tickets from Cadman's Cottage, which include ferry transport from Jetty 6 at Circular Quay.