The Invaluable Biota of Nusantara

The fortification was under construction for four years and was established by East Indian Company under Governor General Joseph Callet, it was completed in its first form in 1718. Joseph Collet named his new fort `Marlborough` in honors of John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, who was being haled as National hero after winning a number of strategic battles in Europe against the French. The fort was the second strongest fort built by British in the east after Fort George in Madras, India.



Bengkulu was briefly shaken out of its torpor during the Governor of Thomas Stamford Raffles in 1818-1824. Fort Marlborough was the seat of the British power and influence in western parts of the Indonesia until 1824, when under the terms of the Treaty of London, England handed over the territory to the Dutch in exchange for others, ending 139 years of British power in Bengkulu.



The actual handover took place early in 1825 as in exchange for Singapore. The Dutch continued to occupy Fort Marlborough until the Second World War and after the fall of Sumatra it was then occupied the Japanese army. The following of the Japanese in 1945 the fort was again briefly occupied by the Dutch. After independent August 17, 1945 the Indonesian army and police force unit used the fort until it was abandoned in the late 1970`s. The fort remains in its present state following a sympathetic restoration programmed which was carried out in the late 1980`s.



Set on a hill overlooking the Indian ocean it's an interesting place to visit. The old British gravestones at the entrance make poignant reading. Inside, a small museum houses a few interesting old engravings and copies of official correspondence from the time of British rule. Inside the fort, there is also a subway connected to the outside and you can also see where the Ducth incarcerated Soekarno during his internal exile of 1939–1942.



It is open daily from 8am-8pm, admission Rp. 1,000.

Phone: 081539249331

Address: Jl. Benteng

Directions: Fort Marlborough is located on jl. Benteng in the main street of Bengkulu nearby Pasar Baru Koto and Tapak Paderi beach.