Fort Charlotte | |
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Part of Kingstown, Saint Vincent | |
Edinboro road, Saint Andrew | |
Coordinates | 13°09′28″N61°14′32″W / 13.1579°N 61.2421°W |
Site information | |
Open to the public | Yes |
Site history | |
Built | 1763 and completed by 1806 |
Fort Charlotte is a British-colonial era fort, built on a hill overlooking the harbour of Kingstown, Saint Vincent. It is located in the parish of Saint Andrew, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines at the top of Edinboro road, on Berkshire Hill, just west of the town.
Standing at 601 feet above the sea level, it is the major early 19th-century fortification in Saint Vincent. The fort enjoys a panoramic view of the Leeward side of the island, including Kingstown, Young Island, the Caribbean, Bequia and the Grenadines. On a clear day, Grenada, 90 miles to the south, can be seen.
On re-taking the island in 1763 from the French, the British commenced the building of the fort which was completed by 1806. It was capable of supporting 600 troops and 34 guns and some cannons are dated 1811.
It was built to protect against French attack, Carib unrest, and slave rebellion. The British garrison were to use it for holding out against any French invading forces while the Royal Navy brought reinforcements from other islands. The British were taught a lesson when the French invaded the island at Calliaqua in 1779 thus proving that any likely attack on the island would come from any location, rather than directly on Kingstown itself or from the sea. Consequently, the fort was built as a redoubt accessed by a viaduct; with its cannon pointing inland.
The fort was named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the wife of King George III.
At various times the fort was used as a poor house, a leper colony, and a mental hospital. [1] These institutions were housed in now-ruined barracks, facing Kingstown harbour at the bottom of the hill. The fort served as the Vincentian prison. The main barracks building housed a women’s prison capable of holding 50 prisoners, [2] though it commonly held up to 15 prisoners, and closed in mid 2015. The dry moat was used as the women prisoners’ exercise yard.
Some of the old barracks (the officers’ quarters) now house a small museum with a colourful painted history of the Black Caribs or Garifuna.
The fort is the home of the Fort Charlotte Light, which acts as a beacon for the entrance to Kingstown Bay, it gives off three white flashes every 20 seconds. The Coastguard radio station and harbour signal station are based here too. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Fort Duvernette, also known locally as Rock Fort, is now a ruin, although there are still cannon there pointing out to sea. It is located on Duvernette Islet, immediately to the south of Young Island. The islet is a volcanic plug of hard columnar basalt, and rises 195 foot out of the sea. [9]
Wilkie’s Battery is the sister fortification to Fort Duvernette. In the late 1800s the building was converted into the Villa Estate’s cotton drying-house, and later into a private residence in the 1940s. In 1964 it was converted into the Grand View Beach Hotel. [10]
The French built these two forts prior to giving up occupation of the island to the British in 1763. This was at a time when Calliaqua was the commercial hub of the island. Both fell into disrepair once the construction of Fort Charlotte commenced.
Saint Lucia was inhabited by the Arawak and Kalinago Caribs before European contact in the early 16th century. It was colonized by the British and French in the 17th century and was the subject of several possession changes until 1814, when it was ceded to the British by France for the final time. In 1958, St. Lucia joined the short-lived semi-autonomous West Indies Federation. Saint Lucia was an associated state of the United Kingdom from 1967 to 1979 and then gained full independence on February 22, 1979.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country in the eastern Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies, at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea, where the latter meets the Atlantic Ocean.
The indigenous inhabitants of the islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines were various Amerindian groups. The arrivals of Europeans in the early 16th century did not lead to long term settlement, only in 1717 did the French occupy the island in Barrouallie, though the English laid claim on St. Vincent in 1627. The Treaty of Paris (1763) saw St. Vincent ceded to Britain. Frictions with the British led to the First and Second Carib War in the mid- to late-18th century but the British held on to the islands. A Crown Colony government was installed in 1877, a Legislative Council created in 1925, and universal adult suffrage granted in 1951. Following a referendum in 1979, St. Vincent and the Grenadines became the last of the Windward Islands to gain independence on 27 October 1979.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island state in the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, an island arc of the Caribbean Sea in North America. The country consists of the main island of Saint Vincent and the northern two-thirds of the Grenadines, a chain of small islands stretching south from Saint Vincent to Grenada. Its total land area is 390 km2 of which 342.7 km2 is the main island of Saint Vincent. The country's capital is at Kingstown on Saint Vincent.
St. George's is the capital of Grenada. The town is surrounded by a hillside of an old volcano crater and is located on a horseshoe-shaped harbour.
Saint Vincent is a volcanic island in the Caribbean. It is the largest island of the country Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and is located in the Caribbean Sea, between Saint Lucia and Grenada. It is composed of partially submerged volcanic mountains. Its largest volcano and the country's highest peak, La Soufrière, is active, with the latest episode of volcanic activity having begun in December 2020 and intensifying in April 2021.
The Grenadines is a chain of small islands that lie on a line between the larger islands of Saint Vincent and Grenada in the Lesser Antilles. Nine are inhabited and open to the public : Bequia, Mustique, Canouan, Union Island, Petit St Vincent, Palm Island and Mayreau, all in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, plus Petite Martinique and Carriacou in Grenada. Several additional privately owned islands such as Calivigny are also inhabited. Notable uninhabited islands of the Grenadines include Petit Nevis, used by whalers, and Petit Mustique, which was the centre of a prominent real estate scam in the early 2000s.
Kingstown is the capital and largest city of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The city has the main port and the biggest commercial center of the islands. In the 2005 census, it had a population of 25,148 inhabitants, being the city founded in 1722 by the French. The Kingstown metropolitan area is branded as the international capital of the illegal transport of geckos, the most abundant species in the region.
Bequia is the largest island in the Grenadines at 7 square miles (18 km2). It is part of the country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and is approximately 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the nation's capital, Kingstown, on the main island, Saint Vincent. Bequia means "island of the clouds" in the ancient Arawak. The island's name was also 'Becouya' as part of the Grenadines.
UTC−04:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of −04:00.
Union Island is part of the nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It has a surface of 9 square kilometres (3.5 sq mi) and lies about 200 km west-southwest of Barbados within view of the islands of Carriacou and the mainland of Grenada, which lies directly south.
The Windward Islands cricket team is a cricket team representing the member countries of the Windward Islands Cricket Board of Control. The team plays in the West Indies Professional Cricket League under the franchise name Windward Islands Volcanoes.
Saint George is an administrative parish of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, situated in the most southerly portion of the island of Saint Vincent. With an area of 52 km2 it is the country's third largest parish by total area. According to the 2000 census it has a population of approximately 52,400 making it the most populous parish in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and by extent, the most densely populated as well. Its population accounts for 44% of that of the country and its area, only 13%.
Baliceaux is a small, privately owned Caribbean island and is one of the Grenadines chain of islands which lie between the larger islands of Saint Vincent and Grenada. Politically, it is part of the nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
The Capture of Saint Vincent was a French invasion that took place between 16 and 18 June 1779 during the American Revolutionary War. A French force commander named Charles-Marie de Trolong du Rumain landed on the island of Saint Vincent in the West Indies and quickly took over much of the British-controlled part of the island, assisted by local Black Caribs who held the northern part of the island.
Afro-Vincentians or Black Vincentians are Vincentians whose ancestry lies within Sub-Saharan Africa.
Jean Le Comte was the first governor of Grenada, holding office from 1649 to 1654. He led systematic efforts to kill the indigenous Caribs or drive them off the island.
Young Island is one of the smallest islands of Grenadines and part of the state St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It lies immediately south of St. Vincent island, separated from it by a channel approximately 180 m (590 ft) wide. The name goes back to the former British Governor of St. Vincent William Young.
Vincentian nationality law is regulated by the Saint Vincent Constitution Order of 1979, as amended; the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Citizenship Act of 1984, and its revisions; and various British Nationality laws. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Vincentian nationality is typically obtained either on the principle of jus soli, i.e. by birth in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; or under the rules of jus sanguinis, i.e. by birth abroad to parents with Vincentian nationality. It can be granted to persons with an affiliation to the country, or to a permanent resident who has lived in the country for a given period of time through naturalisation. There is not currently a program in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines for persons to acquire nationality through investment in the country. Nationality establishes one's international identity as a member of a sovereign nation. Though it is not synonymous with citizenship, for rights granted under domestic law for domestic purposes, the United Kingdom, and thus the commonwealth, have traditionally used the words interchangeably.