Fort Metal Cross

Fort Metal Cross stands on a promontory beside the fishing village of Infuma at Dixcove (Dick's Cove) in the Ahanta West Municipal District of Ghana's Western Region. Originally called Dixcove Fort, it is a British colonial fortification begun in 1692, built in part to tap hinterland gold and to draw English captains away from the Brandenburgers' Fort Gross Friedrichsburg at nearby Princestown. The people of Infuma, whose chiefs' allegiances shifted between the British and the Dutch, besieged the fort several times on behalf of the Dutch, delaying its completion; by 1750 it was equipped to carry up to 25 cannons.

The gold handled here was largely impure, which earned the fort the description "the fake mint of the Gold Coast" attributed to Bosman. It later served as a station for ship repair and timber supply, and during the slave trade it held a slave prison. Under the 1867 British-Dutch exchange of forts it passed to the Dutch in 1868 and was renamed Metalen Kruis after a Dutch gunboat; in 1872 it reverted to the British, who gave it the name Fort Metal Cross. It has since housed the Police and Postal Services and is currently leased to a private organization.

For a visitor, the fort's significance is both historical and official. It is one of 15 forts in the serial UNESCO World Heritage property "Forts and Castles, Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western Regions," inscribed in 1979 under criterion (vi) as reference 34-008, and it is a protected monument in the custody of the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board. UNESCO's 2019 State of Conservation report records its condition as "Good condition" in both 1998 and 2018.

The setting is a working coastal one: the cove's quiet waters suit small boats and canoes, while large ships anchor about 2 km offshore. Published opening hours are 9:00am to 4:30pm. The fort is managed through the GMMB's Central and Western Regions office at Cape Coast Castle, Cape Coast (tel +233-3321 32529); general GMMB contacts are [email protected] or [email protected], +233-303944028 or +233-303944030, 2 Barnes Road, Adabraka, Accra. Because the site is leased to a private organization, visitors should confirm current access arrangements with the GMMB before travelling.