An Enlightened View of Gates Fort

I first went to Gates Fort last November.  It is a quiet little Fort, doesn't attract a lot of attention, but a cute little Fort, with a pretty big gun.  At that time I enjoyed it for the great view, and for being able to quietly soak up a bit of the surrounding history.  In the early summer, I enjoyed watching Longtails from the rocky cliffs on its edges.  But only recently did I pick up a copy of a book called "Sea Venture -- Shipwreck, Survival, and the Salvation of Jamestown," at the recommendation of one of Bermuda's local Conservationists in a lecture at Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute.

I thought I had my Bermuda history figured out until I read this book.  This book gets right down to the last known detail of those souls aboard the Sea Venture on that fateful day it wrecked -- their successes and failures that led them to colonists or captains, and also explains as much as is known about who did what, and when in both Jamestown and Bermuda.  The association between Bermuda and Jamestown is far more intricate and closely linked than anything I had previously read.  Of course, one of the main characters aboard that ship is a military man -- Gates.  Turns out that Gates Fort, in Gates Bay, is named after him, and this site is right about where the shipwreck passengers and crew came on board.  Much smaller than Fort St. Catherine, but much more significant with regards to the Sea Venture.

This is where the fire to colonize Bermuda came from.  Bermuda was a saving grace to the badly failing Jamestown venture, and a paradise compared to its counterpart.  It took several years and a lot of happenings for colonization to happen, but it did.  I will leave the specifics for you to research by reading the book.

I will just post a couple more pictures of Gates Fort, with a bit of new found appreciation for the site, now that I know about all the shenanigans that went on, and 2 leaders struggled for power (and hence built two ships to leave Bermuda), as men rallied and railed, were tried, sentenced, pardoned or executed....all along the shore of this quiet little site, long before it even became this ancient little fort.

What Paradise probably looked like in 1609 -- with more sea turtles and cahows before the soldiers ate them all

Gates Fort from outside the walls on the cliff

Gates Fort now