It was here that Captain Light first set foot on the virtually uninhabited island of Penang in 1786 and established the free port where trade would, he hoped, be lured from Britain’s Dutch rivals.
Between 1808 and 1810, convict labour replaced the then-wooden fort with stone; the unique star-profile shape of the walls allowed for overlapping fields of fire against enemies. Yet for all its size, the contemporary fort isn’t particularly impressive; only the outer walls stand, enclosing a rather spare park within.
Light named the fort after Charles Cornwallis, perhaps best known for surrendering at the Battle of Yorktown to George Washington, effectively ending the American Revolution.
