Fort Bullen and the abolition-era river mouth

The Six-Gun Battery on the south bank dates to 1816 and Fort Bullen on the north bank to 1826. UNESCO describes their purpose as intercepting illegal slave shipping after Britain's 1807 abolition of its slave trade. ^{[unesco-kinteh]}

That declared purpose is not a complete moral account of British rule. The same fortifications also helped consolidate colonial control, while Fort Bullen was reused as a strategic post during the Second World War. ^{[unesco-kinteh]}