Fort Canning Hill Location

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The Singapore Stone

Long held to be the oldest surviving piece of a far larger boulder that used to stand near Bukit Larangan and the Singapore river but which was probably blown up by British engineers to make way for construction, the last remaining piece of the Stone shows that an advanced civilisation had past through or could have even existed on Singapore island somewhere since the 14th Century CE.

Historians have not been able to decipher or pin-point what sort of script is on the stone and so it remains a mystery who exactly were the earliest inhabitants of Temasek.

The Fort on Fort Canning

Fort Canning was given its colonial name as we know it today because of Lord Canning who in the early years of the East India Company's rule of the island of Singapore , the governor of British India , of which Singapore was originally part of till the mid-1800s. Singapore subsequently became a crown colony under direct rule from London as part of the Straits Settlements.

The British believed that a fort should be built to allow for the colonial towns' folk to retreat to in times of an invasion from a foreign power or should a rebellion by the local populace take place.

A fort was therefore built upon government hill as it was known to the British then. Soon enough the hill acquired the name of the fort after whom the governor of British India was named.

Today , all that remains of the fort walls is a small section of the wall barely above the knee-level.

Map of Fort Canning today

Fort Canning has since been turned into a park. The above is a recent map showing the different trails. To see details , click on the map above to enlarge it.

The Time Ball at Fort Canning

The picture above , circa 1900, shows the 3 major artefacts that still adorn the highest point on Fort Canning today , namely the lighthouse , the flagstaff and the lesser known time ball(extreme left).

The time ball at Fort Canning consists of a solid metal pole rising 5 to 7 storeys with a large steel ball inserted through it. The steel ball would be dropped at a specific time of the day so that everyone could set their watches and clocks to a common time. Providing accurate time was a public service which the British Colonial government probably felt compelled to offer as Singapore was fast developing into a major port for East-West trade.

Such a public service dates back to the time of ancient Rome where sundials and water clocks were built in public areas to provide a common time to regulate societial life and for the purpose of faciliating business and commerce.

There were in fact two time balls in Singapore , one at the top of Mount Faber for use by seamen at Keppel Harbour and the other at Fort Canning for the people living and working in Singapore town.

At 1255pm each day the time ball at Fort Canning would be hoisted and then dropped at exactly 1pm. This allowed for the business people to reset their clocks and watches if neccessary. The world's first time ball was built in Portsmouth England in 1825.

Early Chinese Ceremics in Singapore? Visit Fort Canning Centre to find out...

Visit the Fort Canning Centre , opposite the Fort Canning green , to take a peek at some of the earthern ware unearthed at the Fort Canning archelogical site. Some of the ceremics and pottery date back to as far as the Tang dynasty.

Trade is likely to be the explaination for these pieces of ceremics ending up in Singapore. The area opposite Fort Canning hill was a bustling trading area centuries before Raffles set foot here.

Fort Canning christian cemetery - Street names and early settlers

Early European settlers are remembered even today through the street names around Singapore. Many of them are buried in the large Christian cemetery that used to be after the Gothic gates. However , the remains have since been exhumed but their tombstones are now erected along the walls of what was the original burial grounds. Here you would find some familiar names.

Spottiswoode ( Spottiswoode Park) & Aroozoo ( Aroozoo Road ) are examples of some of the names which today are part of Singapore's living past.

Fort Canning's Strategic Location - First signs of life

Map of Fort Canning and its surrounding environs ( above) Notice the two rivers and the hills commanding position overlooking the town.

While the rest of the Singapore was inhabited by small bands of fishing villagers such as the Orang Seletar and the Orang Luat , who were sea gypsies , the start of every major settlement in Singapore since the 14th Century seemed to cluster roughly along where the mouth of the Singapore river is today.

Undoubtedly, the presence of a water source was useful for both navigation inland as well as to possible sources of drinking water further upstream. However , early arrivals would have summised that it was impossible to have any flourishing rice cultivation around the river mouth as Singapore's soil , topography and seasonal rains made the growing of rice unlikely.

The site in and around Fort Canning or Bukit Larangan was protected from both sides by two rivers namely , the Singaproe river and what is today the Rochor river. To the back was Fort Canning to which inhabitants could seek rufuge in the event of an invasion. The elevation would give the inhabitants some defensive advantages. The two rivers also acted as natural boundaries that would slow aggressors down.

Using Fort Canning's geography for communication

The top of Fort Canning provided a commanding view of the town and pier below where trade and business were conducted. The height difference allowed for the hill to be used as a communications platform from which signals could be sent out for a variety of purposes.

1. For warning of fire. Should there be a fire in the town, a telegraph is sent to the hill top signal station which will hoist a series of flags that are noticeable from the town below. The flags are to both warn the residents and also to let the firemen know which part of the town was burning, something which the personnel at the hilltop could confirm from their vantage point.

2. For trade. The flagstaff was also used to hoist flags to inform the business people of the approach of ships and their cargo. It also told of a ship's last port of call and what sort of professionals were on board. It helped traders decide if they should go to the pier either to unload goods they were awaiting arrival or load goods which needed export. It was also a chance for actual trade to occur at the pier side and for the exchange of news.

3. For shipping. The lighthouse was built on Fort Canning to help guide ships into Singapore waters. The beacon of the lighthouse could be seen from as far as 30km out at sea and was particularly needed on cloudy or stormy nights.

4. For maintaining social routine and orderliness. The time ball and the nine-pound cannon told the time for the residents of the town. The firing of the cannon and the dropping of the time ball, told the townsfolk when it was due to awake, to have lunch and to end the day's business. Certainly, these were meant mainly for the business people and the colonial rulers to whom the accuracy of time was of consequence.

The start of a settlement - Singapore's European Pioneers

Clues about the early European settlers can be found in the former Christian burial grounds. Here from the tombstones , we can tell that the early Europeans were clergymen, engineers , military personnel , merchant ship captains . law-makers and doctors. Many of the professions which were needed for the social , economic , military & political development of a settlement.

Many of the settlers also passed on at a rather young age probably due to the lack of sanitation, fresh drinking water and vector borne diseases.