The Bell Tower
You are standing in Bastion Square. The Hudson’s Bay Company, whose legacy continues at the store on Government Street, established Fort Victoria here in 1843.
Acting on behalf of the British Columbia Government, the company sold the surrounding land to pioneers but kept the area around here for itself.
During The Fraser River Gold Rush of 1858, thousands of new settlers, including many immigrants, arrived in Victoria. The Hudson’s Bay sold the Fort Victoria land to these new arrivals in irregular shaped parcels of property. This is why parts of Bastion Square are very narrow while others are much wider.
A wooden bell tower was located at the centre of Fort Victoria one block south of here, at the corner of Langley Street and Fort Street. The bell rang to call the Hudson’s Bay Company’s employees to gather for meals, church services, weddings and funerals. It was also used to warn settlers of fires and other emergencies in the community.
The bell tower and the rest of Fort Victoria were torn down after the Gold Rush, but in the 1970s it inspired the design of a new tower in the same location that contained telecommunications equipment. This was built in the form of a brick campanile, a type of tower from Renaissance Italy.
Photo courtesy BC Archives.
Marker is at the intersection of Langley Street and Bastion Square on Langley Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
