Fort Denison

This guide to Fort Denison in Sydney Harbour opens with the island's grim early days as Pinchgut, where a convict named Francis Morgan met a fate far grimmer than an ordinary hanging in 1796, in full view of every ship sailing into the harbour. From there it jumps six decades ahead to the Crimean War-era fear that turned the rock into the thick-walled sandstone fortress you can see today, complete with cannons winched in before the roof went on. Listen for why the fort's guns, despite everything, have never fired a shot in anger.