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 Casemate Barracks - Sandys Parish, Bermuda. Posted by:  neoc1
N 32° 19.447 W 064° 50.139
20S E 327213 N 3577842
The Casemate Barracks protects the land approach to the Royal Naval Dockyard. It is located along Pender Road, outside the gate of the Royal Naval Dockyard, on North Ireland Island in Sandys Parish, Bermuda.
Waymark Code: WMT0DW
Location: Bermuda
Date Posted: 09/03/2016
Views: 0
The Casemate Barracks on the southern approach to the Bermuda's Royal Naval Dockyard has a long and varied history. The two story Casemate once served as the barrack for the men of Marine Infantry who defended the dockyard area against possible enemy invasion. It later served as a storehouse and then the maximum security prison for Bermuda. It is currently undergoing restoration.
A sign at the Casemate Barracks describes in detail its construction, role in defending the Royal Naval Dockyard, and later use as a maximum security prison. The sign has the image of an anchor and the following inscription:
CASEMATE BARRACKS
Constructed between 1839-1843. Built as the ordinance Barracks
for the British Army troops, by convict labour and local artisans
supervised by the Royal Engineers, the building lies immediately
adjacent to and protected by the southern defences of the
Dockyard, the Land Front. those formidable fortifications
include a thick, high wall with three outwork redoubts,
including a ravelin tower, a deep dry ditch, and glacis
To sweep the glacis and ditch, heavy guns were mounted
atop the Land Front and below the bombproof vaulted
chambers of casemates. The roof of the building was also bomb
proofed, hence its name Casemate Barracks.
Constructed of the hardest local stone in a semi-classical style,
the topmost storey with its blocked windows is filled with
over six feet of sand and rubble supported by thick arched brick
vaulting carefully laid in a method known as
"Royal Engineers Brickwork." This was designed to
protect the building from plunging mortar fire. The only way of
destroying a building sited behind thick fortifications was to use
mortars to lob bombs high in the air onto the roof. The combinations
of high velocity on impact, and explosive power would be devastating
to a normally constructed roof.
Casemate Barracks has served as a Royal Marine Light Infantry
home, training school, NAAFI provision store and, from
1963-1994, a Bermuda's maximum security prison. From its
height and position, Casemate Barracks commands the Dockyard.
Casemate Barracks was once linked to the Keepyard by a carriage
drive which passed along the top of a 30ft. wide
Northwestern Rampart. Its height gives a good indication of
the amount of rock which had to be cleared by convict labor
to create the Yard.
Group that erected the marker: Government of Bermuda
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
Pender Road
Dockyard, Sandys Parish Bermuda
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