Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda

• Official name: Historic Town of St. George and Related Fortification, Bermuda.
• Location: St. George, Bermuda
• Type: Cultural
• Year of inscription: 2000

The Historic Town of St. George in Bermuda was founded by the British in 1612. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) describes the town as an example of an early “English urban settlement in the New World.” The town and its fortifications also show the progression of English military engineering as artillery evolved during the seventeenth and twentieth centuries. Those reasons make The Historic Town of St. George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda, a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site as of 2000. It officially includes the town, as well as fortifications on St. George Island and additional islands at the eastern end of Bermuda. These include the Castle Island Fortifications, Devonshire Redoubt, Landward Fort, Seaward Fort, Southampton Fort, St. David’s Battery, Fort Popple, Paget Fort, Smith’s Fort, Fort Cunningham, Musketry Trenches, Peniston’s Redoubt, Alexandra Battery, Gate’s Fort, Fort Albert, Fort St. Catherine, Fort Victoria, Western Redoubt, Fort George, Burnt Point Fort, Martello Tower, Ferry Reach Magazine, Ferry Island Fort, and Coney Island Kiln.

Many of the fortifications date back to the early seventeenth century, making the area rich in history. Southampton Fort, though now in ruins, remains largely unaltered, as does King’s Castle. A number of forts are accessible to the public. Additionally, the town itself boasts a majority of buildings from before 1900 and a portion from before 1800.

Legislation has been enacted to protect remaining buildings and historic areas from modern development. Restoration and upkeep of the forts does occur, with responsibility falling to the British territory’s Government Parks Department and the Department of Conservations Services. Several of the forts at the site, including Martello Tower, Ferry Reach, St David’s Battery, Fort George, Alexandra Battery, and Fort St Catherine, have undergone restorations in the twenty-first century.

Bermuda tourist sites tout dozens of other forts that are still standing and are accessible to the public. Not only do the forts contain a rich history, but, like much of Bermuda, they are scenic locations for those not interested in the island’s history.

History

The first European explorer to land on Bermuda was the island’s namesake, Spanish explorer Juan de Bermúdez, in 1504. However, the island was not settled until 1609 when the Sea Venture, a ship owned by the London Company, wrecked on the reefs on its way to Jamestown, Virginia. Three of the wreck’s survivors stayed, and within three years, the town of St. George was created. Its permanent settlement date is listed as August 1612. The town, located in St. George Parish, was originally named New London and is considered the oldest continually inhabited English town in the Americas. It was also once the capital of Bermuda until it was outpaced in size and commerce by Hamilton in 1815.

The heart and center of St. George is King’s Square, which sits across from the harbor and provides a connection to two main roadways. Visually, its buildings and houses vary from other European-settled cities in the Americas, as St. George was a military town, and its architecture reflected that purpose.

Residents of St. George immigrated to the southeastern United States and contributed substantially to the trade growth of some Eastern port cities. The city also served as the main port of Bermuda. Bermuda’s location in the North Atlantic Ocean made it crucial to both the politics and military of the United States and Great Britain in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. During the American Revolution (1775–1783) and War of 1812 (1812–1815), it provided a key point for British attacks against the United States. During the American Civil War (1861–1865), when President Abraham Lincoln established a blockade on Southern ports, St. George was crucial for the Confederacy. Boats hauling war supplies from Europe would enter the St. George port, and smaller blockade runners would take the supplies and transport them to the Confederate ports. St. George benefitted greatly from its relationship with the Confederate South. This is reflected by Bermuda’s Tucker House Museum, which celebrates the blockade-running. Though no military actions were taken against Bermuda, the Union's government held strong feelings of animosity toward the island.

Bermuda, and specifically St. George, again worked against the United States government in the 1920s. During Prohibition, St. George was a site for rum running. Between 1921 and 1933, places like Cape Cod, Massachusetts, would smuggle in alcohol from a connected group of ships carrying rum from Bermuda, the Bahamas, Cuba, and Canada. In 1952, British troops left Bermuda, and fourteen years later, Bermuda was allowed self-governance through a new constitution. It still remains under British rule as a British Overseas Territory.

As a standalone town, St. George, named after the patron saint of England, is rich in its military history, with barracks built in the late eighteenth century. Other buildings, including hospitals and a military chapel, followed shortly thereafter. Related fortifications began earlier in the seventeenth century, specifically on Castle, Charles, Governor’s, and Paget Islands. The fortifications were also reconstructed and configured between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to better fulfill their functions. When the island became a “New World naval base” at the end of the American Revolution, additional changes were made to the remaining fortifications. As time passed, most of the forts started to become outdated, and slowly, use of some forts was phased out.

Each related fortification has a story and history, making preservation efforts and on-site programming important to the education of the site. For example, The Castle Island Fortifications, located on Castle Island, were once known as King’s Island. King’s Castle Fort was created by Richard Moore, Bermuda’s first governor, in 1612 and is the oldest stone fort in the western hemisphere. When Spain attacked the island in 1614, the King’s Castle military defended Bermuda. Spain conceded with only two shots fired.

The one-of-a-kind iron plate walls of Fort Cunningham on Paget Island made the fort unique to the western hemisphere. It also had seven thirty-eight-ton guns that were mounted in the 1880s and is surrounded by a dry moat. The interior of the fort was also lined with fifteen-inch iron plating and additional wood to absorb the shock from ammunition. Martello Tower is located in St. George Parish at Ferry Reach, a channel in the northeastern part of Bermuda. The limestone tower was built in the early 1800s and designed to ward off attacks before they could strike the mainland. The tower was restored in 2008 and is open to the public. St. David’s Battery is also located in St. George’s Parish in Great Head Park. The battery was built in 1910 and spans approximately twenty-four acres. It was constructed to defend the Narrows Channel leading to the harbor.

Significance

The Historic Town of St. George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda, reflect the earliest example of an urban English space in the Americas. According to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, to be considered for the World Heritage list, sites must be of “outstanding universal value” and meet at least one of ten criteria. St. George and the related fortifications meet criterion (iv)—for sites “to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history.” As an example of a continuously maintained, occupied, and preserved/restored colonial town, St. George and the related fortifications included in the site create a piece of living history for Bermuda. The site also relates to the long—and sometimes contentious—history between the United States and Bermuda.

Bermuda itself has enacted legislation to protect the city and its fortifications, which include 176 buildings in the inscribed area. The World Heritage site status means that the government of Bermuda has pledged to conserve, maintain, and restore the areas for future generations. In 2000, the World Heritage Property Committee was created to manage the site and ensure upkeep, and the Bermuda Plan 2008 was created to further ensure conservation of the site. The government also has a management plan that is designed to maintain the integrity of the site components. Site management ranges from smaller tasks like maintaining the landscape and removing graffiti to coordinating repairs and creating on-site programming to better serve visitors. The plan covers all parts of the property except for forts Albert, Victoria, and William, which, according to UNESCO, are under lease.

Bibliography

Bhattacharya, Raj. “Fort Cunningham Bermuda.” Bermuda Attractions, www.bermuda-attractions.com/bermuda‗000279.htm. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.

“Bermuda - History and Heritage.” Smithsonian, 6 Nov. 2007, archive.ph/20120524174308/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/destination-hunter/bermuda-history-heritage.html. Accessed on 3 Dec. 2024.

Carroll, Victoria. “A Little Piece of Confederate History Lives—In Bermuda.” The Roanoke Times, 28 Nov. 1993, scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1993/rt9311/931128/12030387.htm. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.

“The Criteria for Selection.” UNESCO World Heritage Centre, whc.unesco.org/en/criteria. Accessed on 3 Dec. 2024.

Forbes, Keith Archibald. “Bermuda's British Army Forts From 1609.” Bermuda Online, bermuda-online.org/forts.htm. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.

“Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda.” UNESCO World Heritage Centre, whc.unesco.org/en/list/983. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.

McCoskrie, Alex. “Bermuda Invites UNESCO for Advisory Mission.” World Heritage UK, 18 Mar. 2024, worldheritageuk.org/articles/latest-news/bermuda-invites-unesco-for-advisory-mission. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.

Petty, Jessica. “8 Facts About Castle Harbour You Might Not Know.” The Bermudian, 1 Mar. 2024, www.thebermudian.com/culture/our-bermuda/8-facts-about-castle-harbour-you-might-not-know. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.