Part of the remains of the barracks of the Whelk Point Fort
The Whelk Point Fort was a colonial fort erected on the southeast part of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. The fort fell into disrepair and ruin, and relatively little of the original structure remains. In 1992 a house was built over the original foundations of the fort, but the remains of the barracks can still be seen on the land behind the house. The ruins are on private property and are not generally accessible to the public.
The main fortification was built by the British at the outbreak of the American War of Independence. The fort guarded two strategic locations. Primarily, the fort overlooks the narrow passage entering Paraquita Bay to the west - one of the largest natural harbours in the British Virgin Islands and the natural gateway to one of the relatively few large agricultural areas on Tortola. The passage into Paraquita Bay is extremely narrow to navigate in any event with the wind and waves surging directly into the gap, and it would be almost impossible to make the entrance in an eighteenth-century sailboat under immediate fire from the fort only 100 meters away. Secondly, the fort formed part of a twin fortification (with Fort Shirley) around the settlement which was based in what is now known as Hodge's Creek. Although that settlement declined in importance, for a considerable part of the Territory's history (when the main administration of the islands was conducted from Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda), that was the most significant settlement on Tortola.
The fort later fell again into disrepair, and it was acquired in 1966 by Neville Westwood and his wife, who built their home on the adjacent land. That house was subsequently torn down and a new house erected over the foundations of the fort in 1992.
The history of the British Virgin Islands is usually, for convenience, broken up into five separate periods:
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Bare Island is a heritage-listed islet located at La Perouse, New South Wales in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney in eastern Australia. The islet is located about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) south east of the Sydney central business district, within Botany Bay, close to the bay's northern headland. Containing former fortification facilities, Bare Island was a former war veterans' home and museum and is now a historic site that was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 and is significant as an almost completely intact example of late nineteenth century coastal defence technology. It was designed by Sir Peter Scratchley, Gustave Morell and James Barnet and built from 1881 to 1889 by John McLeod on behalf of the NSW Department of Public Works.
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Joost van Dyk was a Dutch privateer who was one of the earliest European settlers in the British Virgin Islands in the seventeenth century, and established the first permanent settlements within the Territory. The islands of Jost Van Dyke and its smaller neighbor Little Jost Van Dyke, as well as Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda island, are named after him.
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Fort Drummond, also known as Fort Colyer or Fort Collier, is a military fort located on the west end of Drummond Island on Whitney Bay, in the vicinity of De Tour Village, Michigan. It is the only known military and civilian site established by British forces on American soil following the War of 1812. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969 and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1956.
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