Fort Lytton is a heritage-listed national park located Lytton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 13 km northeast of the Brisbane CBD. It is located near the mouth of the Brisbane River on the southern bank. Fort Lytton is an important historical site. It is a pentagonal fortress hidden behind a moat and grassy embankments. It is the only fort in Australia with a moat.
Fort Lytton is the birthplace of Queensland's military history. Built in 1880-81 to protect Brisbane from an enemy, martime attack, the Fort is the principal remaining landmark of a reserve that for 40 years was the focus of Queensland's defence activity. It was designed by Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Scratchley. The fort was used for defensive purposes in Brisbane until the end of the Second World War.
Fort Lytton was established in response to the fear of a Russian invasion in the 1870s and 1880s. To guard the river ‘two six-inch muzzle loading rifled guns and two 64-pounder cannons’ were installed and heavier guns were ‘to face the river and sweep the foreshore’. Barracks were established for the permanent garrison and the soldiers who came to train there. Fort Lytton was maintained for many years as a defence force and thousands of soldiers trained there during the Boer War and two World Wars.