Fort Charlotte (Shetland)

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Fort Charlotte
Cannons aimed at sea

Fort Charlotte is a fortress in the Scottish city ​​of Lerwick on the Shetland island of Mainland . In 1971 the building was included in the Scottish List of Monuments in the highest category A. It is also classified as a Scheduled Monument . The fortress overlooks the Bressay Sound , which separates the Mainland from the neighboring island of Bressay .

history

The oldest known fortress at this location dates from the 1650s and thus from the time of the First Anglo-Dutch War . When the Second Anglo-Dutch War broke out in 1665, King Charles II ordered the fortress to be expanded. In 1667 the Dutch failed to take the fortress. During the Battle of Lerwick in the Third Anglo-Dutch War , Dutch troops burned the structure down in 1673. The fort was abandoned in the previous year, so that it could be taken without significant resistance.

In 1781 Georg III. rebuild the fortress and named it after his wife, Queen Sophie Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz . It is not clear whether the building was completed before the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1783 . Fort Charlotte was manned during the Coalition Wars, but no attack took place there. Between 1837 and 1875 the court and prison were housed in the building. Later it housed the customs house, the coast guard and was used as a training location for the Royal Navy Reserve , which also had a depot there.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  2. ↑ Scheduled Monument - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  3. ↑ a b Entry on Fort Charlotte  in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
  4. ↑ a b Entry in the Gazetteer for Scotland

Web links

Commons : Fort Charlotte  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 60 ° 9 ′ 19.7 "  N , 1 ° 8 ′ 41.4"  W.