Fort Ellewoutsdijk was built between 1830 and 1835. The fort is part of a 19th-century defense line intended to prevent enemy ships from reaching Antwerp. During the Second World War, the German occupying forces built three tobruks and an open gun emplacement on top of the fort due to its strategic location on the Western Scheldt estuary. During the Second World War, the fort served as a key central ammunition depot for the German Kriegsmarine. The Germans also used the fort as a prison during World War II and, after the war, as a prison camp for members of the NSB (National Socialist Movement).
It is currently managed by Natuurmonumenten (Dutch Society for Nature Conservation)
