CONSERVATION WORKS AT FORT IN JUNE
It may take a year to complete the task at Fort Cornwallis after latest find of rare artefacts, says archaeologist
CONSERVATION works for historical artefacts, which were dug up from Fort Cornwallis recently, will begin next month.
A cannon and a mortar, which dated back 200 years during the King George III era, are part of new discoveries made by a team of archaeologists from Universiti Sains Malaysia here.
Other historical items include ammunition casings, live bullets, old laterite roads and Japanese lorry tracks.
USM Centre for Global Archaeological Research director and archaeologist Professor Datuk Dr Mokhtar Saidin said the conservation works could take up to a year to complete, depending on conditions of the cannon and mortar.
The latest discoveries were made in front of the fort’s barrack.
He said the excavation and archaeological works at the fort, especially at the moat, proved that the fort was used as an actual fort.
“There were theories that Fort Cornwallis was not an actual fort but merely a symbolic fort.
“However, the latest discoveries at the site have proven otherwise.
“It was a fort used by the British and later the Japanese.
“Excavation works at the moat revealed an interesting stratigraphy (the study of rock layers) where there was a ‘British layer’, a ‘Japanese layer’ and a ‘modern layer’.
“Now, we get a more complete picture of the fort’s historical layers and its uses, from the British era to the Japanese Occupation to modern times,” he said here yesterday.
Earlier, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow announced the completion of conservation works for two other historical cannons, also dated back 200 years, which were dug up from Fort Cornwallis on Feb 19 last year.
After four months of manual cleaning and treatment, the cannons, weighing 1,500kg and 1,738kg with 2.2m and 2.35m in length respectively, have been restored.
The state government, through the George Town World Heritage Incorporated
(GTWHI), had allocated RM32,100 for the conservation works.
Present were state Tourism, Arts, Culture and Heritage Committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin, GTWHI general manager Dr Ang Ming Chee and USM Vice-Chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Asma Ismail.
Mokhtar said archaeologists were trying to unearth the 140 cannons and mortars in Fort Cornwallis and its surroundings, based on historical records.
“To date, we have uncovered only 24 cannons and mortars, including the two recently restored and the two recently discovered.
“We have 17 cannons on display around the grounds of the fort, while three were placed at the entrance of the E&O Hotel here.”
He said the two restored cannons might be brought back to the fort and put up for public display to enable people to experience a piece of Penang’s rich history.
“We are thinking of opening up part of the excavation site for the public to view,” he said, adding that the matter would be handled by the Chief Minister Incorporated as the site owner and the concession company managing the fort.
Fort Cornwallis, a bastion fort located in the heart of the city and built by the British East India Company in the late 18th century, is the largest standing fort in Malaysia. It is undergoing conservation works as part of the North Seafront project undertaken by George Town Conservation and Development Corporation.
There were theories that Fort Cornwallis was not an actual fort but merely a symbolic fort. However, the latest discoveries at the site have proven otherwise.
PROFESSOR DATUK DR MOKHTAR SAIDIN
Universiti Sains Malaysia Centre for Global Archaeological Research director and archaeologist