Fort Lytton National Park is a national park in Lytton,

City of Brisbane The City of Brisbane is a local government area (LGA) which comprises the inner portion of the metropolitan area of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Its governing body is the Brisbane City Council. Unlike LGAs in the other mainlan ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. Its main attraction is ''Fort Lytton Historic Military Precinct'', providing guided tours of historic

Fort Lytton Fort Lytton is a heritage-listed 19th century coastal fort in the suburb of Lytton in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The name “Fort Lytton” is also used to describe the military base that surrounded the fort. Fort Lytton was built in ...

, a museum and re-enactments. The park was created in 1990 as Queensland's first historic national park. It initially contained only heritage-listed Fort Lytton, a colonial coastal fort that continued to operate as a military base until after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The park was extended in 1999 to include Lytton Quarantine Station which occupied adjacent land. The Quarantine Station is also heritage-listed, but is only open to the public on special occasions. The park is northeast of the

Brisbane CBD Brisbane City is the central suburb and central business district of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. It is colloquially referred to as the "Brisbane CBD" or "the city". It is located on a point on the northern bank of the ...

near the mouth of the Brisbane River.

Fort Lytton

Fort Lytton was constructed in 1880–1881 to protect both the city and the port from naval attack. After the Australian colonies became a federation (the Commonwealth of Australia) in 1901, the fort and the land on which it stood were transferred to the Commonwealth. Fort Lytton continued to operate as a military base until shortly after the

(WW2). It was closed down progressively, the last operation to close being the signal station which closed in 1965. The land and fort were sold to the Ampol oil company in 1963, as the site for the

Lytton Oil Refinery Lytton Oil Refinery is an oil refinery in the Brisbane suburb of Lytton in Queensland, Australia. It is owned and operated by Ampol. It has a capacity of 6.5 billion litres of crude oil per year. The facility employs 550 people. History Lytto ...

. The land contained three parcels that had particular historic significance. These were the land containing the original fort, the land containing

Lytton Hill Lytton Hill is a heritage-listed signal station via South Street, Lytton, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1859 to . It is also known as Lytton Redoubt, Reformatory, and Signal Hill. It was added to the Queensland Her ...

, and the land containing the remains of a WW2 heavy anti-aircraft battery. In 1988 Ampol transferred the parcel containing the original fort to the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended f ...

, and this became Fort Lytton National Park in 1990. Fort Lytton is open free on Sundays, most public holidays and other special occasions. It features both guided and self-guided tours of the historic fort and other military structures, a military museum and regular historic re-enactments (although not every week). Access to the park at other times is by appointment only, and is subject to fees.

Lytton Quarantine Station

The Lytton Quarantine Station was established in 1913–1914, to accommodate newly arrived immigrants and persons considered to be at risk of causing infection to the general population. The quarantine station was on land adjacent to Fort Lytton. By the late 1980s the quarantine station had closed completely. In 1988 management of part of the quarantine site and buildings, including the quarantine station jetty, was taken over by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and was incorporated into Fort Lytton National Park in 1999. The quarantine station is only open to the public on special occasions, but visitors can always walk around the outside of the buildings. The Visitor and Information Centre (which is also the headquarters of Fort Lytton Historical Association) previously housed the quarantine station laundry. The Quarantine Station is only open to the public on special occasions.

Fort Lytton Military Museum

The museum has a collection of over 2000 items which are distributed throughout the park including in 5 buildings, 6 gun pits, 2 shelter structures and several open air locations. Admission to the museum is free, although two of the buildings (the submarine mining building and the black powder rooms) can only be accessed on guided tours. The Old Dining Hall houses a collection of over 10,000 artefacts pertaining to Queensland's military history. Entry to the museum is free.

Development of the national park

Soon after the creation of the national park in 1990, volunteers of the Royal Artillery Association of Queensland created a sub-branch to work with the

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) is a business division of the Department of Environment and Science within the Government of Queensland. The division’s primary concern is with the management and maintenance of protected areas ...

to develop a historic military exhibit for the public. That sub-branch became Fort Lytton Historical Association (FLHA) in 1999. FLHA is a non-profit volunteer organization which provides free guided tours of the Fort on Sundays and public holidays. It also operates the Visitor Information Centre and sells basic refreshments. FLHA seeks donations to cover its expenses. In 2019, the Queensland Military Historical Society relocated from its former premises at Church Street, Fortitude Valley to the old Dining Hall at Fort Lytton.

References

External links

Fort Lytton National Park

Fort Lytton Historic Military Precinct

Queensland Military Historical Society
{{National Parks of Queensland National parks of South East Queensland Protected areas established in 1990 Queensland places listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate Forts in Australia Buildings and structures in Brisbane Government buildings completed in 1881 Parks in Brisbane Museums in Queensland Military and war museums in Australia Military buildings and structures in Queensland Lytton, Queensland