Fort George, near Inverness, was built as a response to the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 and is a fantastically well kept eighteenth century fortress.
Visiting Fort George
As one of the largest forts in Europe, Fort George is about 20 minutes drive from Inverness and the same from Inverness airport. It is well signposted with plenty of facilities and there is enough on site to keep you busy for half a day, even in the rain! There is a large car park as well as on site restaurant. English Heritage/Historic Scotland members have free access to the fort.
My Experience
This was yet another trip (detailed in my travel blog here) whilst working nearby and we stayed in Inverness before taking a morning off to visit Fort George. As can be seen from the photos (old camera, 2012!) the fort is extremely well preserved and you can walk around the outside, the moats or the battlements.
Some rooms in the barracks that have been restored as eighteenth century soldiers and officers quarters and storerooms. There are both eighteenth and nineteenth century canons and mortars on display too. We didn’t walk on the beach as by then the rain was really making itself felt!
Fort George Photo Gallery
History
The extensive military building programme did little to quell Highlander dissatisfaction with the British Government and when Prince Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) landed at Eriskay in 1745 this ignited a new rebellion. By-passing the Highland defences, the Jacobite forces pushed south into England penetrating as far south as Derby before turning back. With their advance into England having failed, the Prince turned his forces against the fortresses along the Great Glen. Both Fort George (constructed around the old Inverness Castle) and Fort Augustus fell to the rebels. Although the Government’s victory at the Battle of Culloden in April 1746 effectively ended the rebellion, there was concern about how easily these supposed strongholds had been taken. Accordingly the decision was made to construct a brand new citadel at Inverness as a direct replacement for the existing structure.
The new Fort George was built in a different location from its predecessor, partly for tactical reasons and partly due to complaints from the populace of Inverness. The new site was eleven miles north-east of Inverness on an uninhabited spit of land jutting out into the Moray Firth. Work started in June 1748 based on a design by Lieutenant General William Skinner. Utilising the latest angle bastion design, it enclosed over 40 acres within its walls and had sufficient facilities to garrison a force of 2,000 soldiers.
Construction of the new facility was slow due to the significant logistical challenges of building on such a remote site. Most of the labour and virtually all construction materials had to be imported and accordingly work was not completed on Fort George until 1769. The project cost an eye-watering £200,000, roughly £20million by today’s prices, but undoubtedly delivered a state-of-the-art fortress. Dr Samuel Johnson, who visited Fort George in 1773, was amazed that such a modern military facility could be found in such a remote location.
By the time Fort George had been completed its original purpose, to provide a secure base against the Jacobite threat, had ceased to be relevant. Economic and political factors meant there were no more Jacobite rebellions after the 1745/6 uprising. Too much had been spent on the fortress to abandon it and so it was used as a basic training facility for soldiers recruited to fight in the French and American Wars. It remained in this role until the mid nineteenth century when fears of French re-armament led to a reassessment of coastal defence arrangements. Fort George, with its prominent position on the Moray Firth, was ideally placed to guard the narrow channel into Inverness and accordingly the facility was upgraded with enhanced batteries. Fort George also became the Regimental depot of the Seaforth Highlanders and remained so until they were amalgamated with the Cameron Highlanders in 1961. The coastal defence role has now ended but the site remains in use by the military. Subsequent cutbacks and re-organisations to the Army have regularly changed the unit stationed at the fort but it is currently garrisoned by the Third Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS).
References
The Historic Scotland site with full visitor information is here.
The history above is copied from the always excellent castles forts battles website here.