| With the threat of war on the Zululand front looming and the possibility of annexation of the Transvaal in the air, Major Charles Frederick Amiel and a detachment of 200 men from the 80th Staffordshire Volunteers was sent to Newcastle to build a fort.
The site he chose was on the north side of the Ncandu River on a short promontory running out from the general hillside. This not only provided his position with steep slopes on three sides but also an excellent view of the drift and the town on the south side of the river.
During the annexation of the Transvaal in 1877 Amiel's troops were held in readiness for action.
During the Zulu War of 1879 the Fort was an important base and commissariat for military operations. It was again called into service in 1881 during the Transvaal War of Independence when it served as the main base for General Pomeroy-Colley's disastrous campaign to try and break through the Boer lines at Laing's Nek and relieve the besieged garrisons in the Transvaal.
During the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 it was first abandoned to the advancing Republican forces and with the return of the Imperial Forces in 1900 it was once again turned into an important base, hospital, commissariat and transit camp.
Proclaimed a National monument in 1979 work was started on restoring the Fort. These efforts were given a great boost when the original plans were discovered in a London Museum in1985. Now the main Fort has been returned to much of its original glory and portrays a typical frontier fort of the Victorian area.
It now houses a number of interesting items on the town's history and the battles fought in the region along with a room dedicated to one of the towns more famous personalities, Rider Haggard, world famous writer of novels such as “King Solomon's Mines” “She”, “Tess” and several others.
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