Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a well-preserved fortress on a hill on the island of St. Kitts, in the Federation of St. Christopher (St. Kitts) and Nevis in the Eastern Caribbean. It was designed by British military engineers, and was built and maintained by enslaved Africans. It is one of the best preserved historical fortifications in the Americas.

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.

Early history

thumb|upright=1.3|[[Battle of Saint Kitts, 1782, as described by an observer in a French engraving titled "Attaque de Brimstomhill"]]

Cannon were first mounted on Brimstone Hill in 1689 during the Nine Years' War, by Jean-Baptiste du Casse, when the French used them to capture the English Fort Charles. The English, under Sir Christopher Codrington, used the same tactic to recapture the fort a year later. From then on, the English used the hill as a fortress, mounting 24-pound cannon, taking advantage of its 972-foot height.

In 1711 and 1731, lightning destroyed the gunpowder 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 with pikes and cutlasses.

French Admiral Édouard Thomas Burgues de Missiessy raided the island and succeeded in blowing up the powder magazine in 1805. Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the local militias throughout the Caribbean were disbanded in 1838.

The fort was abandoned by the British in 1853, and the militia disbanded in 1854.

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Brimstone Hill from the sea, St. Kitts.JPG|A view of Brimstone Hill from the sea

File:Saint Kitts - Brimstone Hill Fortress 01.JPG|Fort George Citadel

File:Saint Kitts - Brimstone Hill Fortress 03.JPG|Cannon and the island of Sint Eustatius

File:Saint Kitts - Brimstone Hill Fortress 04.JPG|Building at the orientation centre

File:Saint Kitts - Brimstone Hill Fortress 05.JPG|Dilapidated bastion

File:2016 02 FRD Caribbean Cruise Brimstone Hill Fortress S0986540.jpg

File:2016 02 FRD Caribbean Cruise Brimstone Hill Fortress S0337084.jpg

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References

  • Official website of Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park
  • Pictures of Brimstone Hill