Gallery
Description
Fort Durnford is a former frontier post and home to the Estcourt Museum in KwaZulu-Natal. It was built in 1875 to protect the townspeople against an attack from the Zulus and stands on a rise overlooking the old military post at Bushman’s River drift.
Constructed out of local sandstone and designed by (then) Major Anthony Durnford RE (Royal Engineer), who had led the Natal Carbineers into their disastrous action at the Bushman’s River Pass on the 4th November 1873. It is an almost perfect example of a mid-Victorian frontier post and houses an excellent museum relating to the military history of the area. Interesting displays include fossils, Iron and Stone Age articles, old wagons, exhibits on the Moorleigh mission station and the Amangwe homestead, and an extensive collection of bird eggs. There is a reconstructed Amangwane Zulu Kraal in the grounds.
Inside the building is a stone paved hall with guard, barrack, storerooms and a vaulted powder magazine and office. Other features of interest include an underground tank and a pit in the North West Tower that reveals two secret tunnels; one leading towards the military post and another exiting from the hillside.