Parks Canada Xplorers
Halifax Citadel National Historic Site
Become a Parks Canada Xplorer at the Halifax Citadel! Download the Xplorer booklet and complete fun activities to have your certificate signed and recieve an official collectible souvenir!
Download the Xplorers booklet (PDF, 8.7 MB)
Please print a copy and bring it with you when you visit.
Welcome to Halifax Citadel National Historic Site!
This fort was home for British soldiers and their families in Victorian times. It was their job to defend Canada.
Imagine you are here to inspect the fort.
- Is it a good place to live?
- Does a soldier’s life in those days seem fun or boring?
- How does it compare to your life today?
Map
The numbers on the map show you where to go to do the activities.
Go to 1 — Citadel's Gate
Text version
Try it out! Can you stand sentry?
I am a sentry, a soldier who guards this place. I stand guard for an hour at a time. Back in 1869, soldiers had to stand guard for 2 hours at a time!
Think you could do this?
Your mission
- Pick a spot that looks like it should be guarded.
- Stand at attention for a full minute (yes you’re allowed to blink).
- Try two minutes, then three and longer.
- Write down your record.
- 1 minute
- 2 minutes
- 3 minutes
- more: ? minutes
Psst! Challenge others in your group to try it out too.
Go to 3 — Orderly Room
Text version
Join in! Join the British army
This was the main office where soldiers got their orders. There were no computers back then - everything was written with a pen and ink!
Using one of the dip pens, fill this “enlistment” form to join the British Army!
Psst! Make sure the ink is dry before closing your booklet!
ENLISTMENT FORM
Name _____________________________
Age apparently _______ years _____ months.
Height ________ foot _______ inches.
Eyes ________________ Hair __________________
Distinctive Marks _______________________________
He can see at the required distances with either eye
This ___________ day of ________ l8 _______
I hereby certify that the above-mentioned recruit was inspected by me, and I consider him in every respect fit for Her Majesty’s Service, and that I have examined this attestation and find it properly filled up.
________________________________
Staff signature
Go to 2 — Barrack Room in Cavalier Building
Text version
Take it easy: The soldier's home
Rooms like this were where the soldiers and their families lived at the Citadel. This was their bedroom, dining room, and living room all rolled into one! Find the opened bed at the back of the room.
Lie down and close your eyes.
- Try to get comfy!
- How does this compare to your bedroom at home?
Sit at one of the tables.
- This is where the soldiers ate all their meals.
- Ask a soldier what they ate.
- Does it sound like something you would like?
Go to 2 —Barrack Room in the Cavalier Building
Text version
Check it out: The soldier’s stuff
Look for the bed covered in stuff.
Soldiers didn’t own very many things. Everything had to fit in their knapsacks.
Find the full knapsack.
Most of the things on the bed are also in the knapsack!
Do you think it’s heavy? YES / NO
Do you think it’s comfortable? YES / NO
Fill your knapsack.
Draw or write what you would put in it.
Go to 4 — Tailor Shop
Text version
Make believe: Dress like a soldier
Today you are a soldier in the 78th Highlanders. Go to the Tailor Shop!
Try on pieces of the soldier’s uniform.
- A private’s doublet
- A drill jacket
- A piper’s doublet
- A Sergeant’s doublet
- A real kilt!
Pick your favorite and strike a pose for the camera.
Find it
Text version
Find it: Count the cannons
In 1869 there were more than fifty cannons on the walls of the Citadel.
- Smoothbore muzzle-loader
- 9 inch rifled muzzle-loader
- 10 inch mortar
- 7 inch rifled muzzle-loader
How many cannons are there today?
I found: ____ cannons
Go to 11 — Guard Room
Text version
Imagine: Life in camp!
Learn about the people who made the Halifax of today in the American Revolution exhibit.
Back then, there were more soldiers here than the barracks could hold. Many lived in camps at the foot of Citadel Hill. Soldiers lived, washed, cooked and slept at their camp!
Find the tent and go inside.
Everyone pick a sleeping spot and sit or lie down.
Does your family fit?
Snap a selfie.
Psst! 4 or 5 soldiers lived in these tents for many years. Even in winter. Brrrrrr!
Go to 5 —Garrison School Room
Text version
Make believe: You run the garrison school!
Soldiers and their children learned their lessons here.
Pretend that you are a student in the school room in 1869. Use a slate and a slate pencil to draw a picture or write a sentence.
Go to the head of the class and sit at the schoolmaster’s desk.
Pretend that you are the schoolmaster and imagine the room is full of your students! Prepare a lesson on the chalkboard.
Go to 5 — Garrison School Room
Text version
Figure it out: Old time school tools
In the Garrison Schoolroom, find these six things.
Can you figure out what each was for?
- Schoolroom Clock
- Schoolroom Ball Frame
- Schoolroom Magic Lantern
- Schoolroom Compass
- Schoolroom Coal Scoop
- Schoolroom Hand Bell
Psst! You can ask the school attendant for help.
Go to 6 — Sally Port
Text version
Take a walk: Through the tunnels!
There are tunnels at the Citadel! Two of them lead down to the ditch and are called Sally Ports.
To “sally” means to “go,” and a “port” is a door or passage.
Find the Sally Ports and walk through them (hint: use your map).
Go through one Sally Port to the ditch, then walk along the ditch until you find the next Sally Port and come back up to the Parade Square.
Go to 7 — Musketry Gallery
Text version
Go investigate: Go inside the wall
Use a Sally Port to go to the ditch.
Find one of the doors in the wall that has a set of wooden stairs. Those stairs lead to the “musketry gallery,” a tunnel inside the wall that goes all the way around the Citadel.
Soldiers who defended the fort could hide in here and shoot through the little windows or “loop holes.”
Let your eyes adjust and walk through the tunnel as far as you can go.
Count the number of:
- loopholes
- little rooms
Write three words to describe how it felt:
Go to 10 — Guard Room
Text version
Try it out: Get comfortable!
Head back to the Guard Room. This is where the fort’s security force stayed.
Pretend you’re a member of the Guard.
You have to stay alert, so if you get tired, your only bed is one of those big gray wooden shelves. See them? Those are beds!
Go into the lock-up, the two jail cells at the back of the room. See the comfy looking beds?
Who had a better bed, the prisoners or the Guard?
Go to 12 — Visitor Centre
Once you are done, bring your booklet to the Visitor Centre where you will get your certificate signed and a reward!
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