For discussion
onth August 1981
Introduction
RESTRICTED
HKCK 294/1
XCR (81) 206 Copy No
32
MEMORANDUM FOR EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance
(Chapter 53)
DECLARATION OF FAN LAU FORT-
AS A MONUMENT
Under section 3 of the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance, the Authority may, after consultation with the Antiquities Advisory Board and with the approval of the Governor, declare any place, building, site or structure which the Authority considers to be of public interest by reason of its historical, archaeological or palaeontological significance to be a monument.
2
The Antiquities Advisory Board has advised and the Secretary for the New Territories has proposed that Fan Lau Fort on Lantau Island should be declared a monument by reason of its historical significance.
Fan Lau Fort
3
Fan Lau Fort, on the south-west tip of Lantau, is located on high ground about 60 metres above sea level, overlooking Lantau Channel, an important passage to the Pearl River estuary and Canton. Rectangular in shape and measuring 21 metres by 46 metres, the fort has well built walls of semi-dressed stone and resembles the other fort (already declared a monument) on Tung Lung island, at the eastern approaches to Hong Kong. The location and layout of the fort are shown on the annexed plan.
4
Historically, there is very little recorded about the Fan Lau Fort or its origin. But its close resemblance to the Tung Lung Fort suggests that they may be contemporary (possibly early 17th century) and probably formed part of the same defence system. It is not known for certain when Fan Lau Fort was abandoned, but an old gazetteer map of Lantau dated 1836 shows the fort with its flag flying. British sources of 1841/42 describe it as the remains of an old walled fort. This suggests that it was abandoned sometime between 1830 and 1840. There is no validity in the claim that the fort is of Dutch origin.
G.S. 84
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