The St. George's Experience
Gates Fort
Located at the end of the Cut Road in St. George's Bermuda, Gates Fort was built around 1612. It sits right on the edge of Town Cut, a channel that was created for ships to enter the St. George Harbor. Gates fort with its great vantage point overlooking the Town Cut, was built to stop any suspect or enemy boats to enter the St. George Harbor from the open sea.
It was named after Thomas Gates, the Governor elect of Jamestown Virginia. In 1609, Thomas Gates was also in the same ship Sea Venture along with Somers and his men, that got wrecked near St. George. He stayed on to govern Bermuda between 1609 to 1610, and later became the Governor of Jamestown, Virginia.
Gates Fort was also known as the Town Cut Fort and Danvers Fort, and subsequently was called the Town Cut Battery. In 1790s, Captain Andrew Durnford rebuilt this fort and mounted four cannons there. There is a guardhouse right at the entrance of the fort. In 1800s, the soldiers used the Keep, that is the main fort building as their barracks and the guardhouse as the kitchen. From 1870 to 1922, this small fort was used by a local family as their residence. Later it was returned to the Government.
As you walk into Gates Fort, you will still find two George III guns mounted. As you go to the top of the fort, you will see the great advantage the British soldiers had defending the entrance of the harbor. You will stand in the same place where they once stood in 17th century. The feeling is awesome. The Town Cut channel is just next to it, and the view of the harbor and the channel leading to the open sea is marvelous. This is also a great location to watch how the cruise ships navigate through the narrow channel into the harbor.
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Alexandra Battery
Located at the eastern edge of Bermuda in St. George's, Alexandra Battery is a fortification made in the 1860s. Just below the fort, there is a small beach which is well known in Bermuda for colorful sea glass. First about the fort. It was named after the princess of Denmark Alexandra. She was married to Edward VII who later became the king of Great Britain.
Alexandra fort is located less than a mile away from the St. Catherine Fort as well as the Gates Fort. The fort was built on a site where there was another old battery called Buildings Bay Battery which was built in 1840s. However, not much is known about that. There were new guns known as the Rifled Muzzle Loaders that were mounted at the Alexandra Battery. One such gun is still there on site. One unique feature of these guns was the use of metal flash plates (called Gibraltar Shields) around the cannons to protect the gunners from incoming fire.
In early 1900s, when the princess of Denmark Alexandra became the Queen, the entire fort was modernized and equipped with two 6-inch modern guns for coastline protections. These guns were called the Rifled Breech Loaders. The fort is open to public. It was last manned during the world wars I and II. However it was never used against an enemy attack.
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