Dry Moat And Drawbridge Fort George On Visit To The Highlands Of Scotland

Tour Scotland travel video, with Scottish music, of the dry moat and drawbridge at Fort George, Gaelic: Dùn Deòrsa or An Gearastan, the latter meaning literally " the garrison ", a large 18th century fortress near Ardersier, to the north east of Inverness on visit to the Highlands. A dry moat separates the outer earthworks from the fort itself. The drawbridge in Fort George was one of several lines of defence against potential attack. The Fort was intended to impose greater government control over the Highlands, which were often viewed as rebellious and remote. Fort George actually never fired a single shot in anger. By the time it was completed in 1769, Jacobite support for the exiled Stuart dynasty had declined. It instead served as a recruiting and training base for the next 250 years. The military engineer for Scotland, Lieutenant General William Skinner was chiefly responsible for the design and layout. Lieutenant General William Skinner was born in St. Kitts in 1700. His parents Thomas and Elizabeth died when he was young and he was adopted by his aunt, Mrs Lambert. She remarried Captain Talbot Edwards, chief engineer in Barbados and the Leeward Islands, who was later appointed Deputy Chief Engineer of Great Britain. He was educated in Paris and Vienna. Skinner was accepted as a practitioner engineer on 11 May 1719. The next few years were spent working on defences in Devonport, Menorca and Gibraltar; his survey of the peninsula proved of great value during the 1727 Thirteenth Siege of Gibraltar where he was rewarded with additional pay for his achievements. He was promoted steadily serving eventually as Director of engineering in Gibraltar. In 1746 he was sent to Scotland where the government intended to increase the fortifications now that the Jacobite Rebellion had been ended. In 1751, he began work on Fort George which cost over 100,000 pounds and was made to Skinner's design. Skinner was to refer to the fort as his " monument " and would manage every detail which John Adam oversaw as the main contractor. Skinner died in Greenwich, an area of South East London, England, still working on Christmas Day 1780. His widow, Margaret, and his granddaughter both received exceptional annuities as there was some regret that Skinner had not been as well as he might have been. Despite spending huge sums his personal wealth at his death was a single house and a £500 annuity. Skinner's son was drowned in 1861 but his grandson, William Campbell Skinner was a successful American engineer. All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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