Fort Denison

Rising from the middle of Sydney Harbour like a lonely stone sentinel, Fort Denison has watched the city grow from a fragile penal colony to a glittering global harbour.

But before it became a fort, it was a place of punishment. Known to the Gadigal people as Mat-te-wan-ye, the rocky island was later used as a brutal convict prison where men were left in chains, exposed to wind, salt and sun. In time, fear of foreign invasion transformed it into a Martello tower, armed and ready to defend the young colony.

In this episode, we explore the isolation, the hardship, and the quiet endurance etched into those sandstone walls. The cannon fire that once echoed across the water. The time ball that helped ships set their clocks. And the human stories that linger in the shadow of that round stone tower.

It is a story of confinement and protection. Of vulnerability and vigilance. Of a small island that has always stood alone, right at the heart of Sydney.

Tonight, we step out into the harbour and listen to what the stone still remembers.

Tonight, we walk into the smoke and steel of colonial Australia and meet the man behind the armour.

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