Fort George, Highland
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- See also Fort George disambiguation page.
Fort George, Ardersier, Highland, Scotland, is a large 18th century fortress near Inverness with perhaps the mightiest artillery fortifications in Europe. It was built to pacify the Scottish Highlands in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745, replacing an earlier Fort George built with the same aim after the 1715 Jacobite rising. The fortress has never been attacked, and has remained in continuous use as a garrison. It remains virtually unaltered, and nowadays is open to visitors with exhibits and recreations showing use at different periods, while still serving as army barracks, currently home to the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment.
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[edit] The First Fort George
The first Fort George was built in 1727 in Inverness, a large fortress capable of housing 400 troops on a hill beside the River Ness, on the site of (and incorporating portions of) the medieval castle which had been rebuilt as a citadel by Oliver Cromwell then abandoned. Fort George surrendered to the Jacobites when they attacked Inverness in February 1746 and the Jacobites laid mines under the fortress under the direction of a French officer called L'Epine, who was amongst those killed when the mines exploded prematurely completely destroying Fort George.
In 1747 William a Skinner, the King's Military Engineer for North Britain, let a contract to rebuild the fortress, but Inverness Council made a claim for compensation for the loss of part of its harbour and an alternative site was found.
[edit] Siting and construction
The site chosen was a level spit of land at Ardersier, about 11 miles (18 km) north-east of Inverness, which forms a promontory jutting into the Moray Firth and controls the sea approach to Inverness. With its own harbour below the walls, the Fort could be supplied by sea in event of a siege. Work began in 1748, with around 1000 soldiers providing labour and defending the site against attack. By 1757 the main defences were in place, and Fort George was finally completed in 1769. The original budget was £92,673 19s 1d, but the final cost was more than £200,000, a vast figure for the time (larger than the Gross National Product of Scotland in 1750). There would be no more Jacobite rebellions for the fort to control, and it became a base for the Highland regiments recruited from the clans in the same way as the Black Watch.
[edit] Fortifications
The fortifications form an outstanding example of defence in depth. The main walls are stone faced, in plan faceted and angled with projecting bastions so that every wall face is covered by fire from guns sited on top of other walls. The walls are many yards (metres) wide and grassed over, on top of barrel vaulted casemates which form underground bunkers designed to protect the entire garrison from artillery fire. The approach to the fortress from the landward side is across a wide area of loose shingle, unsuitable for siting heavy guns, so that besieging artillery is kept out of range. Sloping grassy banks designed to absorb artillery shells all but hide the fort from view. The entrance is reached via a ravelin, a free standing defensive structure incorporating a guardhouse and completely exposed to fire from the main fort, then by a raised wooden walkway, complete with drawbridge, bridging across a wide ditch set between heavily defended bastions. The ditch forms a wide killing ground openly exposed to gunfire from these walls.
[edit] Accommodation
The entrance leads on to the top of the main walls, then wide ramps lead down to the parade ground in front of the three storied Georgian architecture of the barracks which form streets around a central square, very much like an elegant small town of the period. Facilities include a chapel and the Grand Magazine gunpowder storage building.
[edit] Visitor access
The barracks are still in use as a military establishment, but much of the site is open to the public (entrance charge). Historic Scotland use part of one of the barracks to display reconstructions of life in the early days of the fort, and the Grand Magazine displays the Seafield Collection of Arms as well as forming a stage for actors recreating the lives and stories of soldiers in the 1700s. The Fort Major's house facing the parade ground houses the Regimental Museum of the Queen's Own Highlanders and Lovat Scouts. The Fort Chapel is also open to visitors.
