Fort Cornwallis, George Town

Fort Cornwallis marks the area where Captain Francis Light established the British East India Company’s settlement on Penang Island in 1786. Light immediately constructed a simple defensive stockade of nibong palm trunks and named it after Lord Cornwallis, who became Governor-General of India that same year.

Following Light’s death in 1794, the fort was gradually rebuilt in brick and stone using Indian convict labour. The work was completed around 1810. A moat approximately 30 feet wide and seven feet deep once surrounded the walls, although it was filled in during the 1920s. Despite its artillery positions and star-shaped layout, Fort Cornwallis never saw combat and was used mainly for administrative and storage purposes.

Upon entering, you can see an ammunition magazine in the southwest corner, former military buildings, and numerous cannons arranged along the ramparts. The fort’s best-known piece of artillery, however, is the Seri Rambai cannon, positioned on the northwestern bastion overlooking the sea. It was cast by the Dutch in 1603 and later given to the Sultan of Johor in exchange for trading privileges. Following a series of regional conflicts, it was ultimately seized by the British as a trophy of war during an 1871 raid on Selangor.

For the next highlight, turn away from the sea and walk toward the southwestern corner of the fort’s grounds. There, sheltered behind the outer walls, stands a small brick chapel built in 1799 as an early place of worship. It is also remembered as the place where Francis Light’s widow remarried.

Another notable feature is the 69-foot steel lighthouse erected in 1882, which stands on the northeastern corner bastion. You’ll see it rising above the fortifications as soon as you leave the chapel. Designed to resemble a ship’s mast, it is one of Malaysia’s oldest lighthouses and continues to serve as a navigational aid.