Fort Belan
| Fort Belan | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Location within Gwynedd | |
| General information | |
| Location | Dinlle Peninsula, Llanwnda |
| Town or city | Gwynedd |
| Country | Wales |
| Coordinates | 53°07′21″N 4°19′58″W / 53.12239°N 4.33269°W |
| Completed | 1775 |
| Cost | £30,000 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Thomas Wynn, 1st Baron Newborough |
Fort Belan (alternative: Belan Fort; pronounced: Bell-ann)[1] is a coastal fortress in North Wales. It is located opposite Abermenai Point, at the south-western end of the Menai Strait, on the coast of Gwynedd, in the parish of Llanwnda. Situated at the tip of the Dinlle Peninsula, the windblown, north-westernmost point of the Welsh mainland, the fort is cut off twice a day by the incoming tide.[1]
History
The fort was built in 1775 for a reported cost of £30,000
In the late 1780s, the barracks were used to ward off raiding American privateers from the Irish Sea but despite its military history, "no shots have been fired in anger from the fort". In the 1820s, the Wynn family turned it into a private fort for themselves, adding a small harbour for Spencer Wynn's steam yacht. Major construction works took place between 1824 and 1826.[7] The watchtower was built in the 1890s by Freddie Wynn, and it housed a telescope.[8]
In 1907, Sir
Architecture
The fort's innermost buildings are slightly taller than the 20-foot (6.1 m) stone walls. In the centre of the fort is a sheltered quadrangle; at one time, there were
Present use
Fort Belan formerly housed a maritime museum and a pottery,
References
- ^ a b c d e Middleton, Christopher (5 March 2001). "Wales: Fortified by silence". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
- ^ ISBN 0-436-30420-1.
- ISBN 0-224-02105-2.
- Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth "consistent series" supplied in Thomas, Ryland; Williamson, Samuel H. (2018). "What Was the U.K. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
- ^ a b c "A Short History of Fort Belan". fortbelan.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 October 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
- ^ "'FORT' BELAN?". fsgfort.com. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
- ^ "Fort Belan Dockyard, Llandwrog". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
- ^ a b "Friends' bid to restore Fort Belan watchtower". BBC. 17 June 2010. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
- ^ Shaw, H. R. (1951). Country heritage: the stately homes of the north west counties and north Wales. Liverpool Daily Post and Echo limited.
- National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
- ^ Lewis, Samuel (1833). A topographical dictionary of Wales: comprising the several counties, cities, boroughs, corporate and market towns, parishes, chapelries, and townships, with historical and statistical descriptions : illustrated by maps of the different counties ; and a map of Wales, shewing the principal towns, roads, railways, navigable rivers, and canals ; and embellished with engravings of the arms of the cities, bishopricks, corporate towns, and boroughs ; and of the seals of the several municipal corporations ; with an appendix describing the electoral boundaries of the several boroughs, as defined by the late act. Vol. 2. Lewis and Co.
- ISBN 1-55650-895-6.
External links
