Around 1650 the Ommelanden (the area outside the city walls of Batavia) were made unsafe by gangs of robbers, who attacked travellers, farmers, woodcutters and stole cattle.
In 1657 the VOC built the small fort Noordwijk, south of the city, at the junction of the river Ciliwong and the Nieuwe Vaart. The design of the fort, which had four earthen bastions and was armed with eight guns, was probably made by surveyor Johannes Listingh. The garrison prevented the stealing of cattle, which grazed on the Paviljoensveld near of the fort. It also guarded the sluice, which divided the water between the river Ciliwung and the Nieuwe Vaart
Molenvliet.
In 1697 the guns were removed from the fort. During the Chinese Revolt of 1740 the guards burned the buildings and the soldiers left the isolated fort. In 1741 they came back and repaired the damage. In 1770 seven soldiers lived in the fort and took care of the operation of the sluice. Fort Noordwijk was demolished by Governor general Herman Willem Daendels (1808-1811).
On a modern map of Jakarta Fort Noordwijk would have been situated southeast of station Juanda, between the railroad and the crossing of Jalan Pintu Air and Jalan Pos. There are no visible traces left of the fort, but the sluice (Pintu Air) is still in use.
