On June 11, 1795, a squadron of British warships anchored in False Bay. In reaction the commander of the Cape forces ordered that a new battery, Kijk-in-de-pot Battery, be built on a hillock overlooking what is now Granger Bay.Kijk-in-de-pot referenced the blubber pots of the whaling station in Granger Bay directly below the battery.On 13 September of the same year the Dutch forces at the Cape capitulated. In 1827 the British decided to dismantle the Kijk-in-de-pot Battery, but after the outbreak it was rearmed on April 12, 1861. The Kijk-in-de-pot battery was improved in 1862 and renamed after Lieutenant-General Robert Henry Wynyard. It remained operational until August 15, 1945. On 14 May 1976 Fort Wynyard was proclaimed as a national monument. In 1992 the fort became the headquarters of the Cape Garrison Artillery. Fort Wynyard only saw action once, during the British invasion of 1795.
It was declared a National Monument under old NMC legislation on 5 April 1973.
