Fort Cornwallis Essay

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Introduction Fort Cornwallis is located at close to the Esplanade, next to the Victoria Memorial Clock. It is one of the most interesting historical landmarks in Georgetown. It is named after the Governor General in Bengal, Charles Cornwallis. Fort Cornwallis is largest standing fort in Malaysia. Fort Cornwallis is privately managed historical site and it is popular among visitors. Inside the fort, one still see some of the original structures build over a century ago, including a chapel, prison cell and storage room for gun powder magazine. Fort Cornwallis also equipped with an open air amphitheatre, history gallery, a souvenir centre, the bronze sculpture of Captain Francis Light, and functioning light house for Fort Cornwallis. Opening hours for Fort Cornwallis is from 8:30am to 6:30pm daily and the admission fees are RM2.00 for adult and free of charge (FOC) for children below 12 years old. Figure 1.1 The Old View of Fort Cornwallis History Just after taking over Penang from Sultan of Kedah, Captain Sir Francis Light builds the fort in 1786. The main purpose of the Fort was built because of Military purpose, the Fort has never been attack by the Sultan of Kedah, Pirates or the French. It was used mainly for administrative function of East India Company. However, no battle has ever taken place at the Fort, not even during the Japanese invasion. There is few interesting structure inside the Fort Cornwallis. Figure 1.2 The main entrance to Fort Cornwallis Figure 1.3 Sir Captain Francis Light The legendary Sir Captain Francis Light as in the Figure 1.3, it is positioned ever looking the Fort Cornwallis entrance to greeting visitors. The bronze statue was sculpted by F.J. Wilcoxson in the year 1936. Figure 1.4 Chapel The ever first Christian chapel, known as one of the earliest roofed structures in the history of Penang, placed at the south west
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