Thank you for joining for At the ready: an accessible guided tour. This self-guided accessibility tour takes you around Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Sites. Each stop has orientation and accessibility information, a general overview of the significance of the stop, and directions to future stops. Some stops also have additional information in the form of stories. We hope you enjoy your visit here today.
A history of the sites
After you arrive in the parking lot make your way to the Welcome Centre to begin your tour.
A - Upper Battery
The entrance to Upper Battery has two large steel doors flanked by two big pillars of concrete that the defensive walls are built from. On the left, the wall is built on top of large craggy rocks. On the right, the defensive loopholes (holes in the wall to shoot rifles through, also known as rifle-slits) are exposed.
B - Loopholed Gate and Walls
The 3.5 m tall defensive wall is built on top of a craggy rocky hill. On this side of the wall, the defensive loopholes are more noticeable.
C - Guardhouse
The Upper Battery Guardhouse is a long rectangular building made of grey concrete. The windowsills are painted white with red trim that matches the three red wooden posts supporting the sloped roof.The inside of the Guardhouse is colourful. The top part of the walls is light pink and the bottom half is light green, and a thin black line separates them. In the centre of the room is a large wooden table, behind which there is a coal-stove along the wall. A large green cabinet sits to the right of the stove, its green panelling matching the walls. To the left of the stove is the kitchen, which is protected by a black steel gate and is not accessible to the public.
D - Water Tank
The Water Tank at Upper Battery is partially buried in a large grassy hill. In front of it, on either side, is a stone retaining wall that holds the hill back. The right-side retaining wall is slumping and sliding down the hill, partially blocking the front of the Water Tank. Despite this, it would have been accessible to the soldiers stationed at Fort Rodd Hill.
E - Electric Light Directing Station
The Electric Light Directing Station is a small, rectangular building made of concrete. The doors are blue and open inward. To the left of the building is a small storage room, also made of concrete with blue doors. There is an informational panel in front of the storage room.
F - Fortress Fire Commander's Post
Three half-metre tall concrete pillars, emerging from the gravel beside the Electric Light Directing Station are the only remnant of the Fortress Fire Commanders’ Post. They are in a triangular formation and once held the depression range finder, which helped calculate distance when firing.
G - Telephone Exchange
The Telephone Exchange is a small concrete building built into the grassy hill behind it. A single door opens into the building and a small window acts as a light source.
H - Gun Emplacement
The 6-inch disappearing gun is on a metal platform raised above the protective concrete ring that surrounds it. A black spiral staircase leads to the gun. The concrete wall below has the bottom three-quarters painted white.
I - Underground Magazine Complex
Concrete stairs lead down to the Underground Magazine Complex. At ground level, the top of the staircase comes out beside the 6-inch disappearing gun.
J - Second World War Officers' Quarters
Today, the Second World War Officers’ Quarters houses two washrooms. It is located to the right of the main path. It is a white rectangular wooden building with green doors and green trim. To the right of the building is the access point for the Historic Nature Trail (Y – Historic Nature Trail).
K - Warrant Officer's Quarters
The Warrant Officer’s Quarters is a square two-storey house made of red brick. At the peak of the gabled roof is a white concrete plaque with “1897” written in black, marking the year it was completed. Below the plaque there are two second-storey windows and below those are the first-storey windows and the front door.
L - Fitters Shop
The Fitter’s Shop is a small, square concrete building. On the front of the building there is a window with black steel bars. On the right side of the building there is a small door that reveals the interior of the Fitter’s Shop.On the inside, blacksmithing tools, ranging from hammers to files, line the blue-grey walls of the Fitter’s Shop. An anvil is in the centre of the room.
M - Battery Commander's Post
The Battery Commander’s Post is a small concrete building on a small craggy hill. A red door opens outwards and reveals the interior of the building.
N - Canteen
The Canteen is a long rectangular concrete building with five windows. The window sills are white and the red trim matches the five support poles and the roof. A craggy cliff and the Lower Battery defensive wall sit behind the Canteen.
O - Lower Battery
Opposite the steel entrance doors, there are two concrete pillars built into the large grassy hill of Lower Battery. They act as retaining walls to the underground magazine doorway. Above the doorway sits a white concrete plaque with the date “1895” marking the year the battery was completed. Below, a ramp leads down to the underground magazine. A Red Ensign flag is on a flagpole at the top of Lower Battery.Inside the magazine, two rows of shells line a long hallway made of concrete. They are roughly 40 cm tall, and are black with copper-coloured bases and multicoloured tips. These tips indicate the different types of shells; white-black-white are for training, red-black-red are “anti-personnel” or shrapnel shots, black-white-red-white are armour piercing, and yellow shells are high-explosive.
P - Casemates Barracks
Casemates Barracks is an L-shaped building, and surrounds a courtyard of grass and gravel. The bottom third of the building is painted white with red trim that matches the support poles. A metal handrail stands behind the support poles. A wooden barrel sits in the courtyard in front of the barracks.
Q - Fortress Plotting Room
Two pillars jut from a section of concrete built into a lichen-covered rock wall. They mark the hidden entrance to the Fortress Plotting Room.
R - Fisgard Lighthouse
Fisgard Lighthouse is made up of a two-storey red brick living quarters with a gabled roof, and a white lighthouse tower with a deep red top that stores the light. The lighthouse tower is 15 m tall.
S - Boathouse
The white boathouse has a gabled roof and two large white doors-stained orange from the rusty door hinges.
T - Storehouse and Water Tank
The Storehouse and Water Tank is a brick building painted red. The base is square, and tapers in towards the roof. The front doors open inward into what are now the washrooms.
U - Anti-Torpedo Measures
A large number of rusty, interlocking rings make up what was once the Anti-Torpedo Net. Though the net would have originally been strung up under water, today it is resting on a broken stump on the beach.
V - Searchlight Emplacement No. 7
The “Fisherman’s hut” which housed Searchlight Emplacement No. 7 is built against the rocky cliffs on the back side of Lower Battery. The curved panels at the front of the hut open to reveal the light inside. With the panels shut this small orange building and the fishing boat in front of it draw little attention from the water.
W - Belmont Battery
A large concrete observation tower hangs over the entrance to Belmont Battery. The upper half of the square-shaped tower is fully enclosed with concrete walls. There is a steel staircase spiraling around the outside of the tower. The entrance is made of rough concrete. A door on the left leads to the magazine, a door on the right is locked, and a door in the middle leads upstairs to the guns.
X - Searchlight Engine Room
Thick concrete walls outline the pathway to the Searchlight Engine Room. In the centre of the pathway there is a green metal gate, which protects a large metal cylinder. Above the gate are four small windows with light grey trim, matching the gate and cylinder.Inside the Searchlight Engine Room is a 1.85 m tall light, protected by a black steel fence.
Y - Historic Nature Trail
The Historic Nature Trail is covered with soft woodchips. On either side of the pathway there is tall green grass. The further away from the trail, the larger the vegetation becomes. The grass gives way to shrubs, which gives way to trees, which hang over top of the trail.
Z - Garry Oak Learning Meadow
The Garry Oak Learning Meadow has many plants that are species at risk or that are important to First Nations. During the spring and summer months, the meadow is full of blooming flowers.
Welcome Centre
The Welcome Centre is the main entrance for Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Sites and starting point of the A to Z stops. You can also enter the sites via the red gates, located beside the Welcome Centre.You can explore the sites in any way you like. Distances to major stops from the Welcome Centre: Fisgard Lighthouse: 625 m or a 7 to 10-minute walk Belmont Battery: 385 m or a 4 to 7-minute walk Lower Battery: 305 m or a 4 to 7-minute walk Casemates Barracks: 310 m or a 4 to 7-minute walk Warrant Officers Quarters: 16 m or a 2 to 4-minute walk
oTENTiks
Across the grassy field are five large brown canvas tents that are available to reserve for camping.
Conclusion of the tour
Thank you for visiting Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Sites. We hope you enjoyed your visit here today.If you liked the natural and cultural history of Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse, consider visiting other nearby Parks Canada Sites, including: Pacific Rim National Park Reserve Gulf Islands National Park Reserve Fort Langley National Historic Site Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site
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