Fort Charles

Description

(located west of the island in the village of Sandy Point) When the two earliest English forts at Old Road and Sandy Point Town (Hamilton Fort) fell into poor condition, it was decided, “to build a big, strong fort” on Cleverly’s Hill, “a suitable site, as ships were often becalmed beneath it.” And so Charles Fort came to be, named after King Charles II who sent £500 to assist in its construction. The fort served its military duty from 1670 until it was abandoned in 1854. Some forty years later, in 1890, it was used as a Hansen Home (leper asylum), which was finally closed in 1996.