Parc national de la forteresse de Brimstone Hill

Brève description

Parc national de la forteresse de Brimstone Hill

Justification d'inscription

Critère iii Brimstone Hill est une forteresse britannique exceptionnelle, construite par des esclaves selon des normes précises, à l’apogée de l’expansion coloniale européenne aux Caraïbes. Critère iv Du fait de ses disposition et construction stratégiques, la forteresse de Brimstone Hill est un exemple exceptionnel et bien préservé de l’architecture militaire britannique des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles.

Description longue

The Brimstone Hill Fortress is of historical, cultural and architectural significance, a monument to the ingenuity of the British military engineers who designed it and supervised its construction and to the skill, strength and endurance of the African slaves who built and maintained it. In some of its architectural features, notably the Citadel, are expressed elements of different stages of fortress design; it is an embodiment of European imperialism, and the emergence of a distinctive Caribbean culture. It is indicative of the competition for power and wealth at a crucial stage in world history, and it provides a medium by and through which the geology, ecology and history of the Caribbean can be understood. As managed by a competent local organization on behalf of the people of a young nation, the majority of whose citizens are descended from former slaves, it is a symbol of a colonized African people and of the integrity of Caribbean culture, and as such it can be an inspiration to other young nations in a post-colonial era.

Known as Liamuiga (Fertile Island) to the native Amerindians, Saint Kitts was the first Caribbean island to be permanently settled by both the English (in 1623) and the French (1625), who shared it between 1627 and 1713, when it came under sole English control through the Treaty of Utrecht. Known as the 'Mother Island', it provided the model and springboard for English and French colonization in the Caribbean. African slaves were brought in from the earliest years of European settlement, and it was on Saint Kitts and the other early colonies that the plantation system, based on sugar production and slavery, had its roots.

Because of its reconstructed and very formidable defences, Saint Kitts became known as the 'Gibraltar of the Caribbean'. It successfully drove off an attack by the French Navy in 1806. From that time onwards the British Navy was able to ensure the security of its island colonies in the Caribbean. The fortress was abandoned as a result of British defence cuts in 1853. The wooden buildings were auctioned and dismantled and masonry buildings were plundered for their cut stone; natural vegetation progressively took over.

Brimstone Hill is a twin-peaked upthrust of volcanic rock 230 m high, clad with limestone over much of its surface. It is covered with scrub, with patches of bare rock in places; the more sheltered areas and ravines are covered with large trees and dense undergrowth. The fortress was constructed to protect part of the coast of the island settled by the English against attack from the sea, and also to provide a place of refuge in case of invasion, until the Royal Navy could secure the surrounding waters and force the surrender of the invading land army. As such it is strategically distinct from the Spanish fortresses.

The principal structures, on different levels on the upper third of the hill, were in dressed stone (basalt) blocks, with a rubble core. The local limestone was used as a decorative element for quoins and for facing round doorways and embrasures. On entering the fortress, the first structure is the Barrier Redoubt, with defensive walls and a small casemate that served as a guardroom and powder magazine. Next comes the North-West Work, which incorporates the stout Magazine Bastion with its associated water catchments and cistern. This in linked by a curtain wall to the South-East Work, the main feature of which is the Orillon Bastion, the counterpart to the Magazine Bastion. A prominent feature here is the bombproof Ordnance Storehouse. The hospital was located within this bastion, but only its foundations survive. Outside the wall is a small cemetery with tombstones. Behind the defensive line is the massive Prince of Wales Bastion.

There is an impressive row of colonnaded basements of the Infantry Officers' Quarters nearby. This faces the Grand Water Catchment System, consisting of paved catchments, three underground water cisterns, and an open tank. No more than some ruined walls of the Artillery Officers' Quarters survive, but the kitchen has been restored. In the Commissariat Yard, the Warrant Officers' Quarters and the Commissariat Storehouse have been reconstructed. The system of walls known as the North-East Work has several barrack blocks behind it, but they are still unrestored. The heart of the fortress is Fort George, the massive masonry structure on one of the twin peaks that dominate the complex, still in an excellent state of repair. It is the earliest surviving British example of the type of fortification known as the 'polygonal system', and one of the finest examples known anywhere in the world.

Description historique

Saint-Kitts, que les natifs amérindiens avaient baptisée Liamuiga (île fertile), fut la première île des Caraïbes à avoir été occupée sans interruption tant par les Anglais (en 1623) que par les Français (1625), qui se la partagèrent entre 1627 et 1713, époque à laquelle elle passa sous seul contrôle anglais grâce au traité d'Utrecht, qui mirent fin à la guerre de Succession d'Espagne. Connue sous le nom de « l'île Mère », elle fut à la fois le modèle et le tremplin de la colonisation anglaise et française aux Caraïbes.

Des esclaves africains furent amenés dès les premières années de la colonisation européenne, et ce fut sur Saint-Kitts et les autres premières colonies que le système des plantations, basé sur la production sucrière et l'esclavage, s'enracina. La piste de certaines formes syncrétiques qui combinent des éléments des cultures européennes, africaines et, dans une moindre mesure, amérindiennes, peut être remontée jusqu'à Saint-Kitts.

L'usage militaire de Brimstone Hill commença en 1690, quand les Britanniques montèrent un canon du côté nord-ouest pour éloigner les Français de Fort Charles, au pied de la colline. Le site devint un lieu de refuge lors des invasions, par exemple par les Français en 1706.

En 1782, la forteresse, après un mois de siège, se rendit aux Français. Cependant, cette même année, les Britanniques remportèrent une victoire navale retentissante lors de la bataille des Saints, établissant ainsi leur supériorité navale. En 1783, le traité de Versailles (qui accordait l'indépendance aux treize colonies d'Amérique du Nord) rendit l'île aux Britanniques ; s'ensuivit une période de reconstruction intensive et d'investissement. Grâce à la reconstruction de ses formidables ouvrages défensifs, Saint-Kitts fut surnommée « la Gibraltar des Antilles ». Elle résista vaillamment à une attaque de la marine française en 1806. Par la suite, la marine britannique put assurer la sécurité des colonies insulaires aux Caraïbes.

La forteresse fut abandonnée en conséquence de diminutions des dépenses militaires britanniques en 1853. Les édifices de bois furent vendus aux enchères et démantelés, tandis que les pierres taillées des bâtisses de maçonnerie furent pillées. Progressivement, la végétation reprit le dessus.