Brimstone Hill Fortress

Brimstone Hill Fortress (literally translated: Schwefelberg Fortress ) is a fortified coastal point on the island of St. Kitts in the state of St. Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean. The fortress was built between 1690 and 1790. The Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999 .

history

Edification

Construction of the fort began in 1690 and continued intermittently for over 100 years. Its construction was intended to accommodate the influential planters and traders in wartime. Strategically, Brimstone Hill also provided support to nearby Fort Charles and defended the port of Sandy Point , a business location two miles away .

Battle of the great powers

With the occupation of St. Kitts (then St. Christopher), which they shared from 1625 to 1713, England and France had both created a stepping stone to gain a foothold in the Caribbean and use it economically. In 1713, after the Utrecht Agreement, the entire island was given to the British.

In 1782 the island was still a profitable colony . The US recognized the important position of Brimstone Hill and encouraged France to go against their colonial power England and capture the fort. After a month of siege by 8,000 soldiers and heavy artillery fire from 62 cannons, the 1,000 defenders were forced to surrender. However, a year later, following the Paris Agreement, the island was returned to England. Then the fort was massively expanded for about 15 years, so that it was nicknamed " Gibraltar of the West Indies ".

In 1852 the fort, along with others in the Caribbean, was abandoned when the economic interests of the great powers England and France shifted to Asia and Africa . Inventory and buildings were auctioned off.

Rediscovery

In 1900 interest in Brimstone Hill revived and an annual government budget was made available to restore the fort. Extensive cleanup and renovation work began in the 1930s and 1940s.

In April 1965, the Brimstone Hill Restoration Society was established at the behest of the administrator Lt. Colonel HAC Howard. In 1966, Queen Elizabeth II and her husband visited the facility, for which the access road was paved. DL Matheson took over the management of the company in 1967 and continued the work for 20 years. In 1985 the Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park Society was named as the official successor to the Brimstone Hill Restoration Society .

UNESCO World Heritage Site

At the 23rd meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which took place in Morocco in 1999 , it was decided to add the Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park to the list of World Heritage Sites. On October 3rd and 4th, 2000 the official inauguration ceremony took place on St. Kitts.

The description reads: Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park is an exceptional and well-preserved example of 17th and 18th century military architecture in the Caribbean environment. Designed by the British and built by African labor slaves , Brimstone Hill Fortress is a witness to the European colonial era , the African slave trade and the emergence of new societies in the Caribbean .

Structural features

The fort are the remains of a large-scale military installation from the 18th century. The protruding citadel is one of the earliest and best-preserved examples of the form of fortification known as the polygonal system . The water recycling system and the construction of the barracks and other structures on the steep terrain are considered exceptional architectural achievements. British Army engineers designed the facility, but the majority of the facility was built by African slaves.

Geological location

The geological bedrock of the fort is a stable extrusion of cooled lava from volcanic activity from around 6,000 years ago. The rising lava masses displaced the limestone crust of the ocean floor , so that Brimstone Hill stands on volcanic andesite , surrounded by a rim of limestone. The rocks later served as building material for the upper floors: solid rock, from which the blocks were cut, to the limestone, which was used for the mortar . The name, which means “sulfur mountain” in German, is based on the strong smell of sulfur compounds that arises from outbreak channels under water.