Fort

George

A Military Building of great Architectural and Historical interest.

After the Jacobite Rising of 1745, which ended with the battle of Culloden, the victorious Duke of Cumberland requested that a new fort be built at Inverness, on the site of the old. For various reasons the fort was built, not at Inverness but on a flat promontory projecting into the Moray Firth, some nine miles to the east of that town.	The view from the Prince of Wales's Bastion
The new fort, begun in 1748, was designed by William Skinner and the contract for the work was awarded to William Adam, father of Robert and James Adam, who later contributed much to Scotland's architectural heritage.

Some of the buildings within the fort.

The fort, designed and built as a defensive structure was "state of the art" for its time. With artillery, bastions, ravelin and sally ports, it would have presented formidable difficulties to a contemporary attacker.

Plan of Fort George.

The building was completed in 1770, although it had been defensible well before that. By this time the Highlands were pacified, as much by political, as by military means and the original purpose of the fort had become outmoded.

So, "The Fort", as it is known locally, has never seen a shot fired in anger. Fortunate, indeed, for the visitor who can enjoy the period architecture and military design in its pristine state.
Fort George has a military garrison, usually a Highland regiment and is open daily to visitors who are free to wander amongst the buildings, battlements and defences. The Chapel is not to be missed, nor the Museum of the Queens Own Highlanders which is housed within the fort.