The National Museum of Bermuda, previously the Bermuda Maritime Museum from its opening in 1974 until 2009 (legislatively formalised in 2013), explores the maritime and island history of Bermuda. The maritime museum is located within the grounds of the fortress Keep of the former Royal Naval Dockyard in Sandys Parish on the Ireland Island at the western end of Bermuda. The museum publishes a number of books relating to Bermuda's history.
After the English colonies in North America had established their independence, Bermuda was developed as a major British naval base to control the sea lanes to North America. The Dockyard construction started in 1809 and continued for a century. [1] Buildings of the Keep were constructed using the local limestone. Work was done initially by slaves, later by convicts, prisoners, and laborers imported from the West Indies. The dockyard closed in the late fifties, and buildings started to fall into disrepair. In 1974 the Bermuda Maritime Museum took over the site of the Keep and restoration began. [2]
The museum changed its name in 2009 to reflect its broader national focus; this name change was formalised in 2013 after an amendment was made to the museum's Act. [2] [3] [4]
The 10-acre (40,000 m2) Keep of the dockyard was its citadel and arsenal and protected it against potential attacks from land or sea. [1] Defenses include bastions "A" to "G", ramparts and casemats, equipped with numerous guns including now displayed 24-pounder and 32-pounder carronades, 6-inch shell guns and 8-inch (200 mm) magazine breech-loading guns. The Keep Yard is surrounded on three sides by buildings and magazines; the fourth side is the location of a statue of Neptune. The 1837 Shifting House once stored muskets and gunpowder. Among the storage facilities are the 1850 Ordnance Building that stored 4,860 kegs of gunpowder on a floor of non-sparking bitumen, the 1852 Ordnance House, and the 1853/1890 Ordnance House. [1] The 1870 High Cave magazine is located above a now flooded cave. The Commissioner's House takes a commanding position at the center of the Keep. Designed by Edward Holl, it was erected within five years in the 1820s as the world's first residence using prefabricated cast-iron for its structural framework. [1] [5] It decayed after the departure of the British, but after the museum took control in 1974, it has been restored over a period of 25 years.
The Commissioner's House is used to display a number of exhibitions. The basement shows Bermuda's Defence Heritage, a display about Bermuda's defenses and fortifications since 1612, and the role of local forces in World War I and World War II (this is devoted only to the British aspect of Bermuda's naval and military history, although there is a separate exhibit devoted to the United States bases). The pillared hall is site of a two-storey History of Bermuda mural by the Bermudian artist Graham Foster. The main floor has a number of themes related to Bermuda's history including slavery, immigration, and tourism. One room is dedicated to the history of the Bermuda Race. The upper floor contains collections of maps, books, coins, maritime art, and exhibits concerning activities of the Royal Navy and the US Forces, specifically during World War II. Other buildings show shipwreck artifacts, local watercraft, or are under renovation (2009). [1]
The High Cave magazine displays artifacts relating to prisoners from the Boer Wars, and World Wars I and II. [6]
A small building, the Dainty/ 1906 RA Store, shows yacht Dainty, once a local participant of the Bermuda Race, that was built more than a century ago and at least three-times restored. [7]
The Keep Pond once used to transport ammunition from outside anchored ships to the fortress is now home of the Dolphin Quest, a place where visitors can interact with dolphins. [8]
The 1850 Ordnance Building interior, also called the Queen's Exhibition Hall, appeared as the fictitious 'Hamilton Library' in the 1977 adventure movie The Deep . [9] The scene, starring Jacqueline Bisset and Nick Nolte, was filmed in October 1976, [9] at the location of the real Tucker Cross crime scene. The emerald-studded 22 karat gold cross had been discovered stolen when Queen Elizabeth II came to name the building on February 17, 1975. [9] Bermudian explorer, Teddy Tucker, appears in cameo during the film.
Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about 1,035 km (643 mi) to the west-northwest.
Bermuda was first documented by a European in 1503 by Spanish explorer Juan de Bermúdez. In 1609, the English Virginia Company, which had established Jamestown in Virginia two years earlier, permanently settled Bermuda in the aftermath of a hurricane, when the crew and passengers of Sea Venture steered the ship onto the surrounding reef to prevent it from sinking, then landed ashore. Bermuda's first capital, St. George's, was established in 1612.
While the defence of Bermuda remains the responsibility of the government of the United Kingdom, rather than of the local Bermudian Government, the island still maintains a militia for the purpose of defence.
The Bermuda sloop is a historical type of fore-and-aft rigged single-masted sailing vessel developed on the islands of Bermuda in the 17th century. Such vessels originally had gaff rigs with quadrilateral sails, but evolved to use the Bermuda rig with triangular sails. Although the Bermuda sloop is often described as a development of the narrower-beamed Jamaica sloop, which dates from the 1670s, the high, raked masts and triangular sails of the Bermuda rig are rooted in a tradition of Bermudian boat design dating from the earliest decades of the 17th century. It is distinguished from other vessels with the triangular Bermuda rig, which may have multiple masts or may not have evolved in hull form from the traditional designs.
St. George's, located on the island and within the parish of the same names, settled in 1612, is the first permanent English settlement on the islands of Bermuda. It is often described as the third permanent British settlement in the Americas, after Jamestown, Virginia (1607), and Cupids, Newfoundland (1610), and the oldest continuously-inhabited British town in the New World, since the other two settlements were seasonal for a number of years.
Ireland Island is the north-westernmost island in the chain which comprises Bermuda. It forms a long finger of land pointing northeastwards from the main island, the last link in a chain which also includes Boaz Island and Somerset Island. It lies within Sandys Parish, and forms the northwestern coast of the Great Sound. It is regarded as one of the six principal islands of Bermuda, and part of the West End of the archipelago.
The following is a list of places of interest in Bermuda.
HMD Bermuda was the principal base of the Royal Navy in the Western Atlantic between American independence and the Cold War. The Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda had occupied a useful position astride the homeward leg taken by many European vessels from the New World since before its settlement by England in 1609. French privateers may have used the islands as a staging place for operations against Spanish galleons in the 16th century. Bermudian privateers certainly played a role in many English and British wars following settlement, with its utility as a base for his privateers leading to the Earl of Warwick, the namesake of Warwick Parish, becoming the most important investor of the Somers Isles Company. Despite this, it was not until the loss of bases on most of the North American Atlantic seaboard threatened Britain's supremacy in the Western Atlantic that the island assumed great importance as a naval base. In 1818 the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda officially replaced the Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax, as the British headquarters for the North America Station (which would become the North America and West Indies Station after absorbing the Jamaica Station in 1830.
With the start of the American War of 1812, an Act of 1813 re-organized the Military of Bermuda's nine-company regiment of foot into two battalions. The total strength of the local militia was, by then, nominally 450 men, but, as always, this was, at any moment, effectively reduced by half due to the seafaring occupations of the better part of the colony's men. Evidently, the militia no longer included any of the colony's black population, whether free or enslaved, as Lt. Colonel Francis Gore, on assuming the governorship, felt it advisable to boost the militia's strength by raising a colored corps, though this was not, in fact, done.
The architecture of Bermuda has developed over the past four centuries. The archipelago's isolation, environment, climate, and scarce resources have been key driving points, though inspiration from Europe, the Caribbean and the Americas is evident. Distinctive elements appeared with initial settlement in the early 17th century, and by the second half of that century features that remain common today began to appear.
The Armstrong RBL 40-pounder gun was introduced into use in 1860 for service on both land and sea. It used William Armstrong's new and innovative rifled breechloading mechanism. It remained in use until 1902 when replaced by more modern Breech Loading (BL) guns.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Bermuda:
The Bermuda Garrison was the military establishment maintained on the British Overseas Territory and Imperial fortress of Bermuda by the regular British Army and its local militia and voluntary reserves from 1701 to 1957. The garrison evolved from an independent company, to a company of Royal Garrison Battalion during the American War of Independence, and a steadily growing and diversifying force of artillery and infantry with various supporting corps from the French Revolution onwards. During the American War of Independence, the garrison in Bermuda fell under the military Commander-in-Chief of America. Subsequently, it was part of the Nova Scotia Command until 1868, and was an independent Bermuda Command from then until its closure in 1957.
The Bermuda Flying School operated on Darrell's Island from 1940 to 1942. It trained Bermudian volunteers as pilots for the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm.
The Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications is the name used by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee to identify collectively as a World Heritage Site St. George's Town, founded in 1612, and a range of fortifications, batteries, and magazines built between 1612 and 1939, the last of which was removed from use in 1953.
The Western Redoubt, or Fort William, is a square fort built on a crest on the eastern side of Government Hill, and within the boundaries of the original main British Army camp in the Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda, St. George's Garrison.
Fort Victoria is a disused British Army fort, built to house coastal artillery atop Retreat Hill, within St. George's Garrison, at the North-East of St. George's Island, in the British colony of Bermuda.
HMS Castle Harbour was a civilian harbour vessel of 730 tons that was taken-up from trade (TUFT) during the Second World War by the Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda for use by the Royal Naval Examination Service and later armed and commissioned as a warship, providing harbour defence from submarines.
St. George's Garrison was the first permanent military camp of the Bermuda Garrison established in the British colony and Imperial fortress of Bermuda, with construction of Old Military Road and the original Royal Barracks commencing during the war between Britain and France that followed the French Revolution. It would remain in use until 1957, when it was transferred to the civil (colonial) government with most of the other Admiralty and War Office properties in Bermuda.
Fort George is a square fort built on the crest of Mount Hill to the west of St. George's Town, near to, but outside of the boundaries of the original main British Army camp in the Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda, St. George's Garrison.
Steinhoff Magazine, High Cave: 'Prisoners in Paradise': Artefacts in Bermuda cedar/stone/other materials created by Dockyard convict establishment, and prisoners of the Boer and World Wars.
32°19′24″N64°44′14″W / 32.32333°N 64.73722°W
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