Visit Fort Glanville for a fun, family day out

Fort Glanville is a lit­tle-known his­tor­i­cal gem locat­ed in Sem­a­phore Park, pro­vid­ing an enter­tain­ing, edu­ca­tion­al and afford­able out­ing for fam­i­lies and his­to­ry buffs.

Fort Glanville Con­ser­va­tion Park rep­re­sents a sig­nif­i­cant peri­od in South Aus­trali­a’s Euro­pean colo­nial history.

The fort remains large­ly unal­tered since it was built in 1880 to boost Aus­trali­a’s defence strat­e­gy, and is con­sid­ered one of the best-pre­served colo­nial forts in Aus­tralia. The orig­i­nal arma­ment is still intact, includ­ing the largest artillery gun of its time in Australia.

Year-round from 10 am-12 pm on Tues­days, you can go on a fort tour, where you’ll get an insight into colo­nial defence and what life was real­ly like at the fort.

And on the third Sun­day of every month between Sep­tem­ber and May, the fort has an Open Day where vis­i­tors are treat­ed to full his­tor­i­cal re-enact­ments by mem­bers of the Fort Glanville Asso­ci­a­tion, which includes mil­i­tary drills and can­non firing.

Watch the sergeants march the parade grounds whip­ping their troops into shape and prac­tic­ing mil­i­tary drills and don’t for­get to cov­er your ears as the can­nons and guns are fired. 

There’s an oppor­tu­ni­ty for the kids to get involved as the sergeant selects young recruits from the crowd. Get your cam­eras out and be ready for a chuck­le as they learn how to march and be part of a tra­di­tion­al mil­i­tary parade. There is always one who turns left instead of right caus­ing a domi­no effect of con­fused kids and amused parents.

Between re-enact­ments, explore the fort’s expense stores, load­ing gallery, mag­a­zine, caponier and gar­ri­son. Learn the his­to­ry of the fort as you wan­der through the small muse­um at the fort entrance. See war relics, mil­i­tary equip­ment and his­tor­i­cal pho­tos of the fort as it once was.

This his­tor­i­cal trea­sure is a great way to spend a Sun­day after­noon with the kids and their grand­par­ents. The lit­tle ones are bound to be enter­tained by the re-enact­ments while those inter­est­ed in his­to­ry can take the time to learn more about Adelaide’s mil­i­tary exploits.

The fort is locat­ed on Mil­i­tary Road, just south from Semaphore’s ​‘main drag’, Sem­a­phore Road – so grab an ice-cream or take some fish and chips to the beach after the gun pow­der has subsided.

Make sure you check the open­ing hours and tour fees before you go.

Fort by lamplight

See the guns of Fort Glanville light up the night sky in this spec­tac­u­lar night time event. As part of the South Aus­tralian His­to­ry Fes­ti­val, the Fort Glanville His­tor­i­cal Asso­ci­a­tion are pre­sent­ing a spe­cial evening per­for­mance on Sat­ur­day 4 May 2019, start­ing at 7.30 pm.

The two-hour pro­gram will enter­tain you as it takes you back in time to the 1880s. Sit back and enjoy the his­tor­i­cal mil­i­tary dis­plays, re-enact­ments and artillery exhi­bi­tions – includ­ing can­non firing.

Admis­sion is $10 for adults, fam­i­lies are $25, and chil­dren, stu­dents and pen­sion­ers are $5.

This sto­ry was orig­i­nal­ly post­ed in May 2016.

Main image: His­tor­i­cal mil­i­tary re-enact­ment (cour­tesy of Fort Glanville His­tor­i­cal Association)