Monday, July 09, 2007

We visited Fort Henry in Kingston, Ontario.
Fort Henry was originally built by the British in 1812 and then expanded and built out of limestone in 1832-1837. It was abandoned in 1891 and today is restored and in excellent condition. It has been restored for is set up as it was in 1867. All the stonework and interior woodwork are original to the fort. The entire fort has a "dry moat" like this around it.


The fort guards the entrance to the Rideau Canal at the confluence of the canal, the St. Lawrence Seaway and Lake Ontario. This is the view from the guns overlooking the Kingston harbor.
They have re-enactments of 1867 British soldiers daily drills and canon firings, carried out by local college students as a summer job. They have drilled well and didn't miss a step.
The artillery crew loaded and fired one of the original 1830 British canon - a "23 pounder" based on the weight of the canon ball it could fire.
After the re-enactment, the "soldiers" led a tour of the fort. Overall, this is the most well restored and best tour of a fort we have seen. It probably helps that the fort was well built was never attacked in its entire history.

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