Fort Amherst is a

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North Ame ...

. It is located at , on the southern side of

the Narrows The Narrows is the tidal strait separating the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City. It connects the Upper New York Bay and Lower New York Bay (of larger New York Bay) and forms the principal channel by which the Hudson Ri ...

, the entrance to St. John's harbour. Apart from some family dwellings, Fort Amherst consists of a man-made harbour, a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

and the remains of gun emplacements built during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

to defend against German

U-boats U-boats are naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the First and Second World Wars. The term is an anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the German term refers to any submarine. Austro-Hungarian Na ...

. Two QF 4.7-inch B Mark IV* guns remain in place on their mountings. The original fortifications at Fort Amherst, built in the 1770s, are no longer visible. The fortifications were named for William Amherst, who successfully recaptured St. John's from French forces in 1762. The fort operated in conjunction with Fort Waldegrave for much of its history. The site was designated a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada () are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being of national historic significance. Parks C ...

in 1951. The name is shared with Port La-Joye / Fort Amherst in

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

and Fort Amherst in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The first lighthouse in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

was built at Fort Amherst in 1810. The current lighthouse was built in 1951.

Gallery

File:Ordnance QF 4.7-inch gun, Gaspé, Fort Peninsula, Forillon National Park, Quebec (4).JPG, One of two surviving QF 4.7-inch B Mark IV* guns at Fort Péninsule,

Forillon National Park Forillon National Park, one of 42 national parks and park reserves across Canada, is located at the outer tip of the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec and covers . Created in 1970, Forillon was the first National Parks of Canada, national park in Que ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. It is similar to the guns at Fort Amherst. File:Fort Amherst.jpg

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fort Amherst, St. John's Neighbourhoods in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Populated coastal places in Canada Coastal fortifications Military forts in Newfoundland and Labrador World War II sites in Canada National Historic Sites in Newfoundland and Labrador History of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Installations of the British Army Foreign military bases in Canada

See also

Gallery

References