Forts of the Caribbean: Fort George Grand Cayman

In 1662, the then Governor of Jamaica, Lord Windsor, received royal instructions to protect the "Caimanes Islands ... by planting and raising Fortifications upon them"; the fortification, however, was not constructed until 1790.

Fort George was built using local coral rock and limestone ironshore with its design being based largely on the English fortifications of the time. The oval base of the Fort measured approximately 57 feet by 38 feet. There were eight embrasures for cannons around the sides of the fort and a mahogany gate on the fort's landward side. The walls of Fort George ranged in thickness from two feet on its landward side to five feet on its seaward side, with the walls being about five feet in height.

In 1802, when Edward Corbet came to Grand Cayman to compile a report for the Governor of Jamaica, he found the Fort "by no means well equipped" with only "three guns, four to six pounders", rather than the eight required by the original scheme.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the fort was no longer in use. During World War II, a tall silk cotton tree growing within the fort was used as a lookout post. Members of the Home Guard, whose barracks were located next to the fort at Dobson Hall, would climb up into the tree’s branches to watch for German submarines, many of which patrolled Caribbean waters hunting for merchant ships setting out to cross the Atlantic with supplies bound for English ports.(the above was taken form Wikapida)   At some point a structure like the one above was added for shelter.

As the tree is gone this replica stands on a telephone pole.  On the same day we visited the Cayman Island National Museum.  Its an excellent little museum located in an old building that's been every thing from the island capital, to a court house/jail, dance hall, church and now a mu seam.

 You can see a example of the original construction of wood and plaster.

This is the old jail cell which has had various layer removed at different layer, You can see the various layers of plaster and the old coral core.  Also several bit of graffiti are visible. 

Finally part of the museum done up as the building looked when it functioned as a court house.  They have three movies that focus on significant cases for the Island.