Fort Amherst is a

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; American and British English spelling differences, see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community ...

in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located at , on the southern side of

the Narrows __NOTOC__ The Narrows is the tidal strait separating the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It connects the Upper New York Bay and Lower New York Bay and forms the principal channel by which the Hudson Riv ...

, the entrance to St. John's harbour. Apart from some family dwellings, Fort Amherst consists of a man-made harbour, a lighthouse and the remains of gun emplacements built during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

to defend against German

U-boats U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare rol ...

. 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 (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du 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 ...

in 1951. The name is shared with

Port La-Joye / Fort Amherst A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

and

Fort Amherst Fort Amherst, in Medway, South East England, was constructed in 1756 at the southern end of the Brompton lines of defence to protect the southeastern approaches to Chatham Dockyard and the River Medway against a French invasion. Fort Amherst is ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The first lighthouse in Newfoundland 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 HMCS ''Fort Ramsay'' was a Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) base located at Sandy Beach on the southern shore of Gaspé Bay, several kilometres east of Gaspé, Quebec. Its construction was commissioned in 1940 and the base was inaugurated by the RCN on Ma ...

Forillon National Park Forillon National Park (french: Parc national de Forillon), 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 nationa ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. 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

See also

Gallery

References