The Bastion is a designated Historic Place located in Nanaimo, British Columbia. It’s the oldest building in this Canadian city, and the oldest Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) building of its type in North America.
What’s at the Bastion Historic Site?
A bastion is the projecting part of a fortification, built to allow defensive fire in several directions.
The HBC built this bastion in Nanaimo in 1853, using it as a trade fort.
You may be most familiar with bastions that are part of large historic forts or castles. Nanaimo’s isn’t. Instead, the Bastion is a three-story octagonal freestanding building that looks more like a lighthouse than anything else.
While the HBC was all about the fur trade, the Bastion was built to help protect its coal mining interests. There are eight openings for long-barreled rifles to shoot out of the 36-feet high structure. These were all covered with heavy shutters made of two-inch planking when not in use.
Inside the Bastion
The exterior of the Bastion is made of its original timbers. However, the interior is now set up to represent the early mining trading post from 1853 to 1862.
Each of the three floors has different artifacts. The first floor deals with the sales and trading operation.
The second floor is all about the armaments used to defend the little colony. It has six-pount carronades to go with the heavier cannons outside. A bell above the door was once mounted nearby on a nine metre pole to signal residents, mostly of the time.
The third, or top, floor, provided storage for supplies. It was also a refuge site for HBC employees and their families. Today, it showcases various artifacts miner-colonists would have brought to the country.
Do you know how many times the Bastion has been relocated?
In 1862, after the HBC’s exclusive trade license wasn’t renewed, the Bastion was sold. It was used off and on by colonial governments, and later, by city governments. It was even used as temporary jail occasionally until 1871.
In 1891 the city saves the Bastion from demolition by contributing $175. At that time it’s moved across Front Street.
It was moved a second time in 1979, when Nanaimo’s roads were widened. This put the tower in its current location in the Waterfront District.
It has since had restoration work and was listed with Canada’s register of Historic Places in 1985.
The Bastion is now managed by the Nanaimo Museum, and is home to a number of exhibits.
Firing of the Cannons at the Bastion
When you’re in Nanaimo over the summer season make sure you get to the Bastion before noon, so you can watch the firing of the historic cannons on the mark of 12 pm (subject to cancellation or change). It’s easy to find, since the cannons are right outside the Bastion on the Waterfront Plaza.
So what about the cannons? Well, they were originally installed in the Bastion to defend the harbor.
While the modern demonstrations are all about the bang and smoke, the cannons could send a 6 lb. cannon ball across the water to Protection Island.
Firing the cannons, here, as elsewhere in the world these days, is all about ceremony.
And this one starts with spine-tingling music from local bagpipers, so has it all.
Linda’s Pick of the Exhibits
I found the third floor, with the artifacts that would have belonged to local people the most interesting.
These first colonists were all from Great Britain. They lived along Front Street in a row of squared-log homes, which they often had to share with another family.
Luckily, they had coal for cold winter nights and a close supply of water from a nearby spring.
When parents demanded schools for their children, the HBC appointed a schoolmaster. Younger children attended it, while older children worked at home or in the mines.
Linda’s Road Trip Tips
The Pioneer Waterfront Plaza is a great place to enjoy the fresh sea air and find things to do if you’re spending the day in Nanaimo.
My favorite part of the plaza was the view of the harbour. Well, that, and the beautiful autumn foilage of the trees! While the plaza was quiet on my visit, the upper deck (20,000 square feet) of the plaza provides a great outdoor venue for events in Nanaimo.
From the plaza, you can wander through a number of intriguing little craft shops, dress shops, even a cheese shop (McLean’s Specialty Foods feature 150 different imported cheeses from around the world!). Or, you can check out the Harbourfront Walkway, a multi-use trail along the Newcastle Channel and downtown waterfront.
The one thing you must do in Nanaimo is taste a few different sweet treats at locations on the Nanaimo Bar Trail.
Fridays, you’ll find the Nanaimo’s Farmer’s Market, which runs from April to October. You’ll also find lots of other community events.
Be sure to make time to visit the Vancouver Island Military Museum, too!
How Do You Visit the Bastion Historical Site?
The Bastion is located at 98 Front Street in Nanaimo, British Columbia. You can see it any time of year, however, it has limited summer hours to tour the inside.
Check hours of operation on the Nanaimo Museum website.
See the Bastion virtually on YouTube.
Plan your visit to the Bastion with Google Maps.
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Reference(s)
Canada’s Historic Places. (1985, December 2). Bastion. https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=1351
Hudson’s Bay Company. (2016). The Nanaimo Bastion. https://www.hbcheritage.ca/places/places-other-institutions/the-nanaimo-bastion
guide2museums.com 