Fort George - Inverness (HS)
The bird's eye view below gives a clear picture of the overall shape and defensive strength of Fort George. Built following the 1745-6 Jacobite Rebellion, it was completed in 1769 and has been used as a barracks ever since. Should you visit today, you will still see the soldiers who are quartered there and it seems very odd that as you wander around, some of the old buildings are open to the public, with displays and information on the history of the Fort and some buildings are out of bounds, still used by the military.
The sheer scale of the Fort provides tangible evidence of the perceived threat of the Rebellion. Situated as it is on a promontory jutting into the Moray Firth, it provides strong land defenses, with the supply line of the sea behind it. It was originally planned as a base for the Hanovarian George II's army and as such, was built with the most sophisticated standards of contemporary artillery fortification, as well as a complete set of internal buildings needed to keep the place going - not only barrack rooms for the men, but housing for the governor, a powder magazine, bakehouse and brewery, ordnance and provision stores and also a chapel for the spiritual needs of the soldiers.
The Jacobite Rebellion had included the slighting by the rebels of the governments forts at either end of the Great Glen, Fort William and Inverness, and Fort Augustus had been devastated by the ignition of the powder store by a shell. After the final victory at Culloden in 1746, the Hanovarians were determined not to be challenged so successfully again and the new Fort George was built to the design of William Skinner. The building contract was let to William Adam, brother of the more renowned Robert and James. Originally, the Fort was due to be a reconstruction of Oliver Cromwell's seventeenth century fort at Inverness, but the present site, on barren land, was chosen and proved much more suitable. Although overlooked by high ground away to the east, the artillery of the time was not such that this would prove a problem. The surrounding water would provide defense in itself, with a rampart encircling the Fort and therefore the mainland defenses were concentrated to the east. Even today, the layers of defensive earthworks, faced with stone and protected by gun emplacements, is very impressive.
The above photograph shows the bridge over one of the defensive ditches, with the rampart shown behind. To get into the Fort, you must cross a couple of bridges and wind your way through the high ramparts to the entrance gateway. Coming in by the front door makes you feel very vulnerable. Inside, the barracks were built to hold 1600 men and the lay-out is symmetrical. Built into the inner ramparts were store rooms and casemates, providing accommodation during a siege. A parade ground was also provided, as seen below.
The ramparts still completely surround the Fort, with many gun positions and observation turrets at the corners. The polygonal shape provided excellent cover for the flanks and the raised position good views in all directions. At Berwick-upon-Tweed, earlier Elizabethan ramparts around the town show the precedent for this type of defense, but here at Fort George, the completeness of the whole compound is unique.
The cost of such a huge undertaking was of course enormous; a figure in excess of £200,000, which was more than Scotland's Gross National Product for 1750. To support the Fort and the other military bases in the Highlands, roads were built between them and several old tower houses and castles were provided with a similar style of polygonal rampart, such as can still be seen at Corgarff. The unexpectedly rapid and successful repression of the Jacobites meant that the Fort was never used for its intended purpose, but became the barracks for successive regiments. When Samuel Johnson and James Boswell visited in 1773, the 37th Foot was stationed here. Increasingly, as the government's use for its army spread overseas, many new recruits came here prior to being shipped out around the world. One of the best displays within the Fort tells the story of several men who passed through, their varying ranks and experiences as well as the conditions they lived in while at Fort George.
By the Napoleonic Wars, the advances in artillery meant that the high ground to the east could have been a danger, but fortunately, Fort George was never tested. After Waterloo in 1815, it was considered as a prison for Napoleon, who in the end went to St. Helena. Despite some proposals for its abandonment or conversion to a prison, Fort George was given a new lease of life during the 1850s and 60s. As fears grew of a French invasion, a powerful coastal-defence battery was built on the ramparts facing the sea. The internal buildings were improved as well, but by the 1880s, the introduction of the even more powerful rifled guns made the Fort obsolete as a defensive base. It is still in use today as a barracks and houses the museum of the Queen's Own Highlanders. Opened to the public in 1964, it is now the only scheduled Ancient Monument in Scotland that is still in use as it was originally intended.