Fort Sekondi, also Fort George, was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

fort on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

(now

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

), built in 1682 at

Sekondi Sekondi-Takoradi is a city in Ghana comprising the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. It is the capital of Sekondi – Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly and the Western Region of Ghana. Sekondi-Takoradi is the region's largest city and an indus ...

(earlier Zakonde and Secondee), next to the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

Fort Orange Fort Orange ( nl, Fort Oranje) was the first permanent Dutch settlement in New Netherland; the present-day city of Albany, New York developed at this site. It was built in 1624 as a replacement for Fort Nassau, which had been built on nearb ...

, which had been built in 1642. This first building was small, according to William Claridge: " ..at Sekondi ..Captain

Henry Nurse Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

, Agent for the English ( Royal African) Company, also built a fort there a few years later. Both these buildings were of about the same size and only a gun-shot apart", and, "The Dutch Fort Orange was a very small place, being merely a square white house in a yard, mounting eight or ten guns on a terrace on the roof. The first English fort had been a very similar building ... This fort was destroyed on 1 June 1698, during the Dutch-Komenda war, and reduced to blackened outer walls. Although denied by the Dutch, reports and letters sent at the time indicated that the Dutch instigated the attack and that some plundered goods were taken to Castle Orange next-door. Attempts were made to rebuild it in 1700, though these had to be abandoned because of hostility from the indigenous population. A new second fort had been built before 1726 as it was drawn by William Smith (see picture top right), an African Company surveyor, and a floor plan given. In 1782 the fort was taken by the Dutch and destroyed, according to Claridge: "The only success scored by the Dutch during this war was the capture of the English fort at Sekondi, which they completely destroyed." Though later transfers occurred, the fort was not rebuilt. It was transferred to the Dutch in 1868 as part of the Anglo-Dutch Gold Coast Treaty, a large trade of forts between Britain and the Netherlands, and on 10 April 1872 the fort was transferred back to the United Kingdom as part of the Anglo-Dutch Treaties of 1870–1871.

References

{{Gold Coast Buildings and structures completed in 1682 History of Ghana Castles in Ghana Dutch Gold Coast 1682 establishments in the British Empire