| Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park | |
|---|---|
 View of the Prince of Wales Bastion at Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park | |
  Location in Saint Kitts and Nevis Show map of Saint Kitts and Nevis Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park (Caribbean) Show map of Caribbean | |
| Location | Saint Thomas Middle Island Parish,Saint Kitts and Nevis |
| Coordinates | 17°20′49″N62°50′14″W / 17.34694°N 62.83722°W /17.34694; -62.83722 |
| Established | 1987 |
UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
| Criteria | Cultural: (iii), (iv) |
| Reference | 910 |
| Inscription | 1999 (23rdSession) |
| Area | 15.37 ha (1,654,000 sq ft) |
| Website | www |
Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park is aUNESCO World Heritage Site, a well-preserved fortress on a hill on the island ofSt. Kitts, in the Federation ofSt. Christopher (St. Kitts) and Nevis in theEastern Caribbean. It was designed byBritish military engineers, and was built and maintained by enslavedAfricans. It is one of the best preserved historical fortifications in theAmericas.
The complex of fortifications were constructed on Brimstone Hill, a very steeply sloping hill situated close to the sea on the Western, Caribbean coast of St. Kitts.
Cannon were first mounted on Brimstone Hill in 1689 during theNine Years' War, byJean-Baptiste du Casse, when the French used them to capture the EnglishFort Charles. The English, underSir Christopher Codrington, used the same tactic to recapture the fort a year later. From then on, the English used the hill as a fortress, mounting24-pound cannon, taking advantage of its 972-foot height.[1]
In 1711 and 1731, lightning destroyed thegunpowder magazine. By 1736, the fort had 49 guns. Since 1795, 40 members of "The St. Christopher Corps of Embodied Slaves" served at the fort, armed withpikes andcutlasses.[1]: 77–78, 80
By 1780, the fortress was considered impregnable, "TheGibraltar of the Caribbean".[1]: 93 On 11 Jan.1782, the French under Admiral ComteFrançois Joseph Paul de Grasse andFrançois Claude Amour, marquis de Bouillé, laidsiege to the fort. During the siege, the adjacent island ofNevis surrendered, and guns fromFort Charles and other small forts there were brought to St. Kitts for use against Brimstone Hill. BritishAdmiral Hoodcould not dislodge de Grasse, andafter a month of siege, the heavily outnumbered and cut-off British garrison surrendered. However, a year later, theTreaty of Paris (1783) restored St. Kitts and Brimstone Hill to British rule, along with the adjacent island ofNevis. Following these events, the British carried out a program to augment and strengthen the fortifications, and Brimstone Hill never again fell to an enemy force. The French navy tried to recapture the fort in 1806 but failed.[2]
French AdmiralÉdouard Thomas Burgues de Missiessy raided the island and succeeded in blowing up the powder magazine in 1805. Following the end of theNapoleonic Wars, the local militias throughout the Caribbean were disbanded in 1838.[1]: 109 [3]
The fort was abandoned by the British in 1853, and the militia disbanded in 1854.[1]: 120 [2] The structures gradually started to decay through vandalism and natural processes.
Stabilization and restoration of the remaining structures of the fortress started in the early 1900s. In 1973,Prince Charles reopened the first area to be completely restored, which was the Prince of Wales Bastion. In 1985,Queen Elizabeth II unveiled a plaque naming Brimstone Hill as aNational Park. Legislation in 1987 officially declared Brimstone Hill to be aNational Park, and it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.
Areas that can be toured on Brimstone Hill include the Fort George Citadel (which includes the Fort George Museum), the Western Place of Arms and the Eastern Place of Arms, all accessed via a steep walk up from the main parking area via a set of ramps and steps. Other areas include the Magazine Bastion that was breached by the French in 1782, ruins of the Royal Engineers' Quarters, ruins of the Artillery Officers' Quarters, Infantry Officers' Quarters, and the Orillon Bastion.
In 2019,King Charles III was given a tour of the fortress by local historian Leonard Stapleton.[4]
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