Fort NapierFort Napier Dates back to 1843 when it was the British military headquarters in Natal.Fort Napier Dates back to 1843 when it was the British military headquarters in Natal. The Imperial Garrison at Fort Napier, Pietermaritzburg, was the base for the British army in Natal between 1843 and 1914. It was named for the Governor of the Cape Colony, Sir George Napier, and played a crucial role in changing Pietermaritzburg ‘from a Voortrekker dorp to a firmly Anglophile Victorian colonial capital.’ During the First World War, Fort Napier served as an internment camp for German Prisoners of War and civilians from colonies in Africa. After the war, the premises were unoccupied for some time. In 1927, the dilapidated buildings were turned into a mental hospital, while a large portion of the grounds became a site for housing for white railway workers. Fort Napier mental hospital came to house only African inmates/patients (later, males of all races), and the premises remain to this day controversial and certainly inadequate for the proper care of psychiatric patients. During the Second World War, Pietermaritzburg had three military camps, including one for Italian POWs Interesting artillery pieces are mounted in the grounds. The mess hall, complete with clock tower, was erected "temporarily" after being transported from India in 1899 during the South African War. |
