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By Keith Archibald Forbes (see About Us) exclusively for Bermuda Online
To refer to this file use "bermuda-online.org/forts" as your Subject
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Bermuda has dozens still standing. They are in the western, central and eastern counties (parishes). They are superb cultural, historical and scenic attractions in every way. (Most people are completely unaware how remarkable they are). They were the first substantial buildings erected in Bermuda, all built by Britain. See a basic listing of the British forces that built and occupied them at various times in British Army Units in Bermuda, 1776-1953. |
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Unfortunately, only Bermuda's remaining eastern forts are shown in this particular photograph. Some - like the one on Hen Island, near Smith's Island in St. George's Harbor - no longer exist. Others off Bermuda's Main Island - on small but once strategic islands - deteriorated into inaccessible ruins. The Martello fort is the only one in Bermuda and was built after the one on Barbuda in the Caribbean as an exact copy of one in England. All the forts not on the main islands are accessible only by those who made arrangements with the Bermuda Government to see them by boat. |
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Later on in this file, see a list of all remaining forts throughout Bermuda.
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They were built in stone when in the rest of British North America at the time, Spanish territories and French possessions, forts were wooden. Only in Britain itself were they also built of stone. Britain had them hundreds of years before Bermuda and the rest of North America were explored. Lack of scrap industries in Bermuda and being far away from world and regional wars meant that while fortifications, carriages, guns and other materials got melted down elsewhere for re-cycled use during various wars, those in Bermuda stayed and became artifacts of exceptional military interest. |
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Good examples are the rifle muzzle loaded guns still on their original carriages and platforms at various local forts. There are 24 left from more than 80 once here. They were built over three and a quarter centuries. All had their own supporting buildings, homes and other structures. The most feared enemies were first Spain, then France, then the United States of America (1781 to late 19th century), then France again and Germany during World Wars 1 & 2. Fortifying Bermuda against enemies was a deliberate British policy from the earliest days. |
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Bermuda even hosted an impressive array of talented British artists, sent by the British Army or Royal Navy for compilation of detailed military records. Other military personnel refined their talents in leisure times. They painted landscapes and seascapes showing how Bermuda developed as a naval base and land fortress bristling with heavy guns that could heave first cannonballs then shells miles out to sea. Some of Bermuda's earliest forts |
The process continued throughout most of the 19th century, until the huge Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda and its protective ring of British Army manned coastal forts, were completed. During this period, when the USA and Great Britain were not the firm allies they are now, many areas of Bermuda were denuded of foliage and developed into military fortifications. Military artists sent to paint these changes included Thomas Driver, E.G. Hallewell and Gaspar Le Merchant Tupper. Some of their works are in art galleries though out Bermuda. Others are in historical records in Bermuda and overseas.
Bermuda was important to the British Government for centuries and, much later, to its allies as well in World Wars 1 and 2. Because they're in easy to find and in picturesque areas, you don't have to be a history buff to enjoy the forts. Most have been restored. Some are in parks. All have gorgeous views. From 1808 to the 20th century, Bermuda was the principal Royal Navy command station for North America's Great Lakes, Caribbean and South Atlantic to St. Helena and the Falkland Islands. This is not well known. In fact, right up until the early 1900's - again from the British start of World War 2 in September 1939 until 1945 and then in the Cold War - it had a supremely important strategic position. Fort St. Catherine, Bermuda's best known fort |
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Not accessible to the general public despite being classified with the nearby Town of St. George as a World Heritage site.
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Castle Island was originally known as King's Island, 3.5 acres, in Castle Harbor. It is one of the "Castle Group" of islands, mother lodes of original British colonial history. It has the historically important King's Castle stone fortification, dating back to 1612. It was built by Governor Richard Moore, as the oldest standing English fortification in the New World and oldest standing stone building in Bermuda. It contains the Captain's House, built in 1621, the oldest standing home of Bermuda stone and the oldest standing English house in the entire Americas. Archaeological excavations are almost continuous. |
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Recently, a King George III half penny was found there, dated 1775, legal tender in Bermuda during the American Revolutionary War, and 15 pieces of rare Bermuda Hogge Money dating back to 1615. The historic buildings are overlooked on the summit by Devonshire Redoubt, built in stone in 1621 to replace one destroyed by fire in 1619. It was from the King's Castle fort that the only attack ever recorded by the Spanish against Bermuda was repulsed in 1614. Two shots were fired from the fort at the two Spanish ships sighted just outside the channel into Castle Harbor. The invaders headed out to sea without knowing the fort had only one more cannonball left. The fort was improved over the centuries and even saw active duty in World War II. Fort Bruere at Frick's Point overlooking Castle Islands |
Opposite Castle Island is Brangman's Island, originally known as Moore's Island and Southampton Island, where historic Southampton fort is located, built in 1612. Southampton Fort - not to be confused with the parish further west of the same name - was begun in 1620 by Governor Nathaniel Butler from a platform and five guns he raised from the wreck of the ship "Warwick." It was Bermuda's magazine ship until sunk during a hurricane in October 1619.
Charles' (Old Castle), 3.5 acres, is another in the "Castle Islands" group of prime historical importance for its original fortification. The ancient English forts on these Castle Islands began the coastal defense system of the overseas British Empire.
| Not accessible to the general public despite being classified with the nearby Town of St. George as a World Heritage site. Only one a year or so does a civic minded group provide a day's visit. This island is situated on the northern side of the original ship channel into St. George's Harbour. It is 36.26 acres in size and was defended from 1612 until the end of the First World War. Richard Moore, sent out from England as first Governor of Bermuda in 1612, decided it was the most important place to be defended. He had platforms for guns cut on the southeastern end of the island as this overlooked the entrance to the channel. |  |
| (This appears to be below the present site of the fort). Governor Daniel Tucker succeeded Moore in 1616 and ensured the construction of another battery below and in front of the original semi-circular platform. In 1619, the third Governor, Butler, built a new platform. These first forts - Paget and nearby Smith's - were all very near the ocean. Although periodic repairs were attempted during the next century, none lasted. When Colonel John Bruce Hope became Governor in 1722, major work was done on Paget Fort (or Queen's Fort as it was sometimes called). |  |
Photographs by Bermuda Online Editor and Web master Keith Forbes
It seems likely that the rocks on which the lower battery stood were undermined by the constant pounding of the waves, particularly in the winter. It took several years to complete the repairs on both Paget and nearby Smith's Forts, at great cost. In about 1740, Governor Alured Popple put all the fortifications in order and arranged to have 10 guns mounted at Paget Fort. In 1746, so many prisoners-of-war were brought in by Bermudian privateers that the only place available to accommodate them was Paget Fort. They were guarded by troops and had a food allowance of one shilling a day. In 1788, Major Andrew Durnford from England re-built Paget Fort. But a violent gale in 1791, which lasted for several days, destroyed the work. In 1793, with the threat of war with France, the Governor of Bermuda directed Durnford to build a new Barbette Battery on the height of the land above Paget Fort on Paget Island. In 1875, Fort Cunningham replaced the older Paget Island Fort. The moat and lower masonry of the fort were reconstructed in 1823. Although a massive new fort bore the date 1875, it had been long in the making - begun in 1823. It took its name from a Captain Thomas Cunningham of the Royal Engineers, who supervised its new construction.
The fort was altered in the 1870's. The upper part was removed for a state of the art iron skin fort - with two iron fronts instead of masonry walls. Known originally as Gibraltar shields, only in Bermuda were they made into continuous straight walls, one for five guns and one for two. Seven huge guns for the shields were found in archaeological excavations in 1991, two of only six known examples to have survived anywhere of the British Army 38 ton, 12.5 inch caliber Rifled Muzzle Loader guns of the 1880's. The fort and its massive guns have been allowed to deteriorate badly.
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Not accessible to the general public despite being classified with the nearby Town of St. George as a World Heritage site. An eastern fort, on the North Shore in St. George's Parish, one of the many fortifications that ringed and protected the Town of St. George. Originally erected in 1612 to 1613 by Governor Moore as a single tower called Riches Mount, the fort recalls a bygone era of colonial militarism. In 1788, it was re-named Fort George after King George III in British defiance of the US War of Independence, and re-built. The present structure, which replaced the earlier redoubt by Andrew Durnford on the side of The Mount, dates partly back to 1788 and partly to the 1840's. |
This particular redoubt took the name of Fort George not in honor of St. George or Admiral Sir George Somers, Bermuda's founder, but King George III. It was built in the shape of an eight pointed star surrounded by an inner keep reached by drawbridges spanning a dry moat. Once manned night and day to keep away Britain's enemies, it even had an escape tunnel 150 feet long. The fort and its water catch are surrounded by cast iron fencing posts topped with a wired on crown or finial. The steep walk rewards visitors with a breath-taking view of the town and many islands of St. George's Harbor all the way over to St. David's Island. A 25 ton, 11 inch Rifled Muzzle Loader cannon is still aimed at cruise ships docked in the town of St. George.
Today, the fort serves an important civilian purpose. Duties of the Radio Officers and RCC Controllers include watch keeping duties on a shift basis in:
Harbor Radio administers the western approaches as well. It is microwave linked to a radar surveillance system on Gibb's Hill Lighthouse in Southampton Parish for all signals.
On top of the keep is the Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) of Bermuda Harbor Radio, two specialty organizations.
The Center has three main divisions in the area of ocean traffic: Rescue; Vessel Traffic Survey (VTS); and Harbor Radio, a Bermuda Government operated communication facility.
Via the RCC, it provides a marine search and rescue service, vessel traffic services in the waters of Bermuda, a listening watch on marine distress frequencies, and marine communications services as required.
Photo: Government Information Services, Bermuda
A central fort, in Pembroke Parish, a 10-acre property. This fully restored fort
and park is just northeast of the city of Hamilton, at 6 Happy
Valley Road. It is open from 9:30 am to 5.00 pm. Admission is free.
The entrance to the fort is on the right. Bear right, immediately after the entrance. From the ramparts, see all Hamilton Harbor, city of Hamilton, the Great Sound - and even the South Shore ocean. The imposing structure includes the moat, 18 ton guns and underground passageways.
Illustration by Royce Baxter
It was ordered by the Duke of Wellington and designed to repel any attack on the city of Hamilton and its environs. It was completed in the 1870's out of solid rock by the British Army's Royal Engineers. At that time and for the next two decades, it was fully manned, bristling with long range guns operated by detachments of the British Army's Royal Artillery. Those were the days when Bermuda had a full garrison of British Army regulars. The country then considered most likely to invade Bermuda was the USA. But the fort, outdated before completion, never fired a shot in anger. Its former subterranean military walkways are now lovely moat gardens lined with tall bamboo's, other fine shrubs and flora - a botanist's paradise.
One aspect of Bermuda history that you will not see (at this time of writing) in any other website describing Fort Hamilton is that before and after World War 2, Fort Hamilton was used to accommodate some Portuguese men imported from San Miguel and other islands of the Azores as laborers to do the agricultural or otherwise manual work Bermudians black or white and other non-Bermudians would not do. Thirteen Portuguese men at a time lived here. When they came to Bermuda they were required to agree to a contract that among other things stipulated a minimum of three years of service and an acknowledgement that they would not bring their wives or family for seven years.
But this policy was by no means confined to the imported Portuguese from the Azores who were indentured laborers living at the fort. It had applied for years past to other Portuguese from the Azores housed elsewhere in Bermuda as well. It is believed some continued to be housed at Fort Hamilton until the 1960s when the fort was purchased by the Corporation of Hamilton. Some will say that what these Portuguese had in Bermuda was far better than the conditions they left in the Azores. Many had very little education. But in Bermuda, they were very hard workers, dependable and took very little time off. Many were grateful, despite the family deprivations, for regular work with a regular pay packet much of which they sent home or saved. The City of Hamilton was one of the many organizations in Bermuda that benefited immeasurably from their services - and still does so.
The staircase leading from the moat gardens to the upper level, to access the ramparts, is steep, with many steps. But your reward will be grassy areas superb as places for picnics. Periodically, the Corporation of Hamilton sponsors an exhibition of drumming and dancing by the kilted Bermuda Isles Pipe Band. It performs a distinctive skirling ceremony on the fort's green every Monday at noon. The fort's Tea Shop offers light drinks and other refreshments.
George Ogden, who retired in mid 2001 from the Corporation of Hamilton, is the man most responsible for creating first a park from an old set of fortress ramparts, magazine tunnels and gun emplacements. He arrived in Bermuda in 1962 with a diploma in horticulture from the Royal Horticultural Society in Wisley, Surrey. He found that the 40-foot moat had become a dumping ground. But today, allspice, palmetto, lots of ground cover plants that tolerate shade, ferns, bamboos and imported orchids now populate the moat. The area is a place of serenity and cool escape. The only drawback is that the fort is for able people only, not the disabled.
An
eastern fort in St. George's Parish, the biggest of all Bermuda's many historic forts,
easily one of Bermuda's most spectacular attractions. The present fort dates
from 1814. It is the principal structure in
Bermuda under the
management of the Bermuda Government's Curator of Forts. Telephone him at (441) 297 1920 or fax (441)
297-2355. The coastal and inland views from here are awesome. The fort, overlooking the beach where
Bermuda's first involuntary settlers came ashore from the shipwrecked Sea Venture flagship
in 1609, is nearly two miles north east of the town of St. George.
It was one of early Bermuda's fortifications against the Spanish, French - and, much later, the Americans. The fort dates back to 1614, when first built by Governor Richard Moore to defend Gates Bay where the colonists landed. In 1793, Captain Andrew Durnford strengthened the battery at St. Catherine's Point and built a new battery with a guardhouse on the hill behind the fort. Major Thomas Blanchard replaced the upper battery with a circular fort in the 1820s. There was a massive reconstruction from 1865 to 1878. It included 25 foot thick concrete embrasures and casemates, so that the fort could be rearmed with five rifled 18 ton muzzle loading cannons. They could send a 400 pound shell half a mile to pierce 11 inches of solid iron. It was a training ground for local forces and the British Army in the early 1900s. In World War 2, an American magnetic loop was installed at the fort.
It is the first major landmark seen by cruise ship visitors when they first arrive off Bermuda. The main shipping lane is a few cable lengths north. It is how cruise ships and other vessels arrive and depart. It is beyond the reach of Bermuda's public transportation bus system but accessible via a local mini bus or taxi, or rented moped. The fort has cannons, tunnels, ramparts and a drawbridge over a dry moat.
The fort re-opened on
February 14, 2000 after a five month closure from considerable structural damage caused to
below it by sea erosion in a 1999 hurricane. Features include replicas of the British
Crown Jewels, a fascinating series of historical dioramas recently cleaned and repainted
for the first time since the 1950's, a new 53 inch video screen in the theater, new
mannequins in the exhibition area and George, the resident ghost. Beyond the reach of
Bermuda's public transportation bus system, it's accessible if you take the local mini bus
or take a taxi, or a rented moped. Actually, the fort is the seventh and last built on the
site.
Even more armament was added later, to defy an enemy who never came. In its heyday, it was the ultimate fortress to deter enemies. In the 1950's, noted American actor Charlton Heston starred as Macbeth in a spectacular floodlit production of the Shakespearean play staged on the ramparts. Unhappily, he suffered from a chronic case of road rash after falling from a rented moped while sightseeing before one of his performances. But he didn't cancel - instead, his buttocks and thighs were creamed with a soothing lotion applied by a blushing local lady.
In the fort's Old Artillery Store, see the dioramas depicting Bermuda's earliest history. The Powder Magazine, now restored to 19th century war readiness, offers audio exhibits and an antique weapons collection. The Keep has an audio visual show on Bermuda's many other forts and their history, as well as records of the many British regiments that once garrisoned Bermuda. There is a small admittance fee to the fort. To date, in non British flags, only the flag of the State of Maine has been flown, for a specific photo opportunity well publicized in Maine. The Fort is also available for group tours, special events, receptions and corporate functions.
Not
accessible to the general public despite being classified with the nearby Town
of St. George as a World Heritage site. An
eastern fort, above the town of St. George, closed for years, it is almost
identical and similar in plan to Fort George. It was built on the site of Warwick Castle by Governor Richard
Moore and became known as this. It
replaced and enlarged the earlier fort of Warwick Castle from where Bermudians in 1775 with great treachery
stole hundreds of barrels of gunpowder from the British in their support of the American
Revolution. (Today, elsewhere in Bermuda, American visitors can see the original letter
from George Washington asking Bermudians to steal the gunpowder).
British soldiers were brought in to stop Bermudian "treachery." The United States and France plotted to capture Bermuda but never followed through. The gunpowder was used by the Americans at the Battle of Bunker Hill. They lost the battle but won the will to keep fighting.
The Continental Congress was so grateful that it lifted the embargo on food and grain shipments to Bermuda it had applied to all other British held possessions. Fort William as we know it today was begun in the 1830's but not finished until 1853. Like Fort George, it had a three floor inner keep surrounded by a redoubt. By the time it was completed artillery had advanced so much that it became obsolete. In the late 1880's the fort was converted into a huge gunpowder magazine and the dry moat was roofed over. It created a series of cavernous rooms. They once showed many items of outstanding interest in British colonial forts, plus an array of battle colors, regimental crests, pennants and insignias. Sadly, the fort has been closed for years and may never re-open as a fort.
This small but historic fort is more
of an observation post than a fort. It is a mile due south of Fort St. Catherine along the
coastal road called the Cut Road, and the same distance east of the town of St. George. It
was constructed between 1612 and 1615 and takes its name from Sir Thomas Gates, Governor
elect of Jamestown, Virginia, from 1609. Because he was shipwrecked off Bermuda along with
Admiral Sir George Somers and colonists from the flagship "Sea Venture," he
governed Bermuda from 1609-1610 before he became the first Governor of Virginia in 1610.
Its chief attractions today are its stunning views of open sea and its site at the edge of
the "Town Cut," the tailor-made narrow channel leading from the open sea into
St. George's Harbor. It offers a perfect vantage point and a photographic opportunity for
observing at very close quarters large cruise ships carefully navigating the Town Cut to
enter St. George's. It was badly attacked by vandals on
October 2001.
The guns here made the St. David's Battery a fortification with formidable cannon power. Close to the Battery is Great Head National Park, partly overlooking the ocean, magnificent for a picnic and some exploring. From the top of a 90 foot cliff, see longtail birds as they soar over the ocean and return to nests on the cliff. There's a parking area.
Not accessible to the general public despite being classified with the nearby Town of St. George as a World Heritage site.
Hungry Bay Fort, Paget Parish
The remains of this can still be seen.
Hunt's Fort
The remains of this can still be seen.
Off the Somerset Road, on Scaur Hill. Bus routes # 7 ("Dockyard") and # 8 stop outside the main entrance. With 22 acres of fortified magnificent views, park land, picnic areas and walking trails. It was built in the 1860's and finished in the 1870's by the British Army's Royal Engineers, when the United Kingdom believed hawkish elements in the USA were conspiring to seize the Royal Naval Dockyard in retaliation for the role British ships played in helping the Confederate forces and using Bermuda as one of their ports. The fort protected the "land front" of the Dockyard from any enemy attack from South Shore beaches. An enormous dry moat was cut right across Somerset Island. Troops invading it from the mainland would have crossed under withering fire from cannons and rifles. As an inland fort, Fort Scaur had small 64 pound guns on disappearing carriages.
The remains of the latter at the fort are the only known examples. The counterweights for these "disappeared" for years. When they were re-discovered, on the docks in the city of Hamilton, they were promptly returned. Wander around, peer through its moat through cannon embrasure in the massive stone walls. Stand on its ramparts for views of the Atlantic on one side and the Great Sound on the other. See Fort St. Catherine and St. David's Lighthouse in far off St. George's Parish - and places you might otherwise miss. Follow the fort's eastern moat all the way down to the Great Sound to fish, swim, or just see the sights.
Photos by Keith A. Forbes
Sears Fort at Pokiok Farm, Smith's Parish
The remains of this can still be seen.
West Elbow Bay Fort, Paget Parish
The remains of this can still be seen.
Cliff side pathways in the park provide a gorgeous panoramic view of the mission of the gunners who once manned the battery. It was to defend the entrance to Hog Fish Channel, or Cut, the sea lane through Bermuda's reefs, located off the Pompano Beach Club area nearby. This channel could have provided an enemy with a way to penetrate the mainland and mount a commando style raid on the Royal Naval Dockyard. During an unsettled time in Bermuda's history, the 4.5 inch guns were trained on targets up to six miles out to sea beyond the beach. The barracks and ammunition magazine still exist. Much earlier yet, there was a fort located here. The original 17th century version is almost completely buried in the sand below the current battery.
Last Updated: May
12, 2008
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