Fort Jervois (Ripapa Island)

One of the more impressive forts built in New Zealand, construction started on Ripapa Island in 1886. The two eight inch and two six inch disappearing guns were mounted in 1889 and two 6-pounder guns were also mounted. The fort was declared fully operational in 1895. The fort was considered to be the strongest one in New Zealand, but others were critical of it, claiming that there were too many guns concentrated in too small a space.

The fort served through World War One, but was deactivated in 1922. In 1925 it was abandoned and opened to the public for the first time. The Defence Department reoccupied the fort in 1936 and used it as a magazine. In 1941 one of the six-inch guns was reactived to cover a patch of 'dead water' uncovered by those at Battery Point and Godley Head. By the end of 1943 the gun was no longer considered to be operational.

The army vacated the island after World War Two and it was handed over to the Lyttelton Harbour Board. In 1958 the Navy League were appointed to control and manage the fort until 1990 when the Department of Conservation took over.

The Fort received some damage during the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and was closed for quite a while after, but reopened at the end of 2019.