Fort Campbell - Selmun, Malta - Colourful Graffiti Inside the Former Officers’ Mess

The graffiti-covered interior of the former Officers’ Mess at Fort Campbell in Selmun, Malta, featuring colourful names, painted hearts and visitors’ messages across the weathered walls of the abandoned military building.

This photograph captures the interior of the former Officers’ Mess at Fort Campbell on the Selmun peninsula in northern Malta, where colourful graffiti now covers much of the abandoned room. Large multicoloured letters spelling out visitors’ names stretch across the main wall, accompanied by a bright red heart, black decorative symbols and numerous smaller inscriptions. Older graffiti and faded markings remain visible beneath the more prominent artwork, creating overlapping layers of messages left over time. The room retains its plain plastered walls, concrete ceiling and dark chequered floor tiles, although extensive staining, peeling paint and damaged plaster reveal its deteriorating condition. Near the ceiling, a damaged section exposes the underlying masonry, while a small window on the right allows natural light to enter the otherwise neglected interior.

Fort Campbell was constructed by the British between 1937 and 1938 as part of Malta’s coastal defence system shortly before the Second World War. Situated on the Selmun peninsula overlooking St Paul’s Bay, the fort incorporated dispersed military buildings designed to blend into the surrounding landscape and reduce their visibility from the air. The Officers’ Mess was positioned slightly apart from the main accommodation area and served as a social and dining facility for commissioned officers stationed at the fort. Such establishments played an important role in British military life, providing dedicated spaces for meals, recreation and social gatherings. Following the end of the fort’s military use, the complex was abandoned, and many of its buildings gradually deteriorated through neglect, weathering and vandalism. The former Officers’ Mess is recognised as a historically significant structure within the Fort Campbell complex, making its surviving architectural features an important part of Malta’s military heritage. The numerous names and messages covering its walls illustrate how the abandoned building has attracted visitors over the years, transforming a once-formal military interior into an informal canvas for personal inscriptions and graffiti. This photograph documents that transformation while preserving a visual record of the building’s deteriorating condition and the surviving details of its original interior.