in experiencing beauty in an historic setting. And while a proper tour of the Island's forts and parklands would take three days, such an exploration would be time well spent as, according to Bermuda Maritime Museum director, Edward Harris, Bermuda's artillery fortifications are some of the finest cultural legacies her people possess. "Over three and quarter centuries, some 80-odd fortifications were built in Bermuda,'' he explained, "(while) ancillary military buildings, homes and other structures would number into the hundreds.

Our collection is perhaps one of the most cohesive groups of such monuments in the world. They are a very important aspect of what Bermuda is. They dominate the landscape in which they are found (and) are located in very beautiful surroundings...they themselves are distinct structures that appeal to discerning travellers.'' Among the structures from various centuries, many are of singular architectural and historical quality, providing attractions that are found in relatively few other places, he explained. "They are built assets, rare and unique to Bermuda. Fort Cunningham, for example, is the only iron-fronted fort that exists outside the United Kingdom. And in many cases, we have the guns to go with (the forts). It's a remarkable collection. They are all constructed of local stone, and were built by Bermudians of all classes and races. If you want to see some of the finest fortifications of the 19th century, you come to Bermuda.'' A tour of Bermuda's forts begins in St.

George's which has been described as a site "worthy of a UNESCO World Heritage designation,'' the director added. And running neck to neck in that regard with the Olde Towne are the surviving buildings of the first 11 forts built in Bermuda, nearly all being coastal defence works. "Of the 11 first forts, one burnt down in 1619 while the new Governor Butler was entertaining the locals in the ship, Warwick , anchored in Castle Harbour....Four have vanished without trace, three are below-ground archaeological sites and three still stand, almost as built in 1612 and 1621. "The last three are on Castle and Southampton Islands and there is nothing else like them in North America...because all the British forts built in the Americas before the settlement of Bermuda in 1612 were built of timber. They have all been lost, except for slight archaeological traces in the ground in a couple of cases.'' According to Dr. Harris, the King's Castle at the seaward end of Castle Island is the oldest standing English fort in the New World. It contains the Captain's House, built in 1621, the oldest standing home of Bermuda stone and the oldest standing English house in the Americas. These are overlooked on the summit of the island by Devonshire Redoubt, built in stone in 1621 to replace the burnt fort of 1619. "These forts, along with Southampton Fort on an opposite Island standing almost as built in 1612, are without parallel in English America and represent the standing evidence of the beginning of the coastal defence of the British Empire...'' The great Fort Cunningham stands on Paget Island. Built in the early 1820s, it was much altered in the 1870s to contain two iron fronts, instead of masonry walls. Known originally as "Gibraltar shields'', only at Bermuda were they made into continuous straight walls, one for five guns and one for two. "Seven great guns for the shields were found in archaeological excavations in 1991,'' said Dr. Harris, "two being of only six known examples of the 38-tonne guns of the 1880s to have survived anywhere in the world.'' Surrounding St. George's Towne are a number of wonderful fortifications, the finest of the lot, Fort Victoria, being much degraded in the building of a hotel in the 1960s. Town Cut Battery, Alexandra Battery, the seven Fort St. Catherine's, Western Redoubt (Gunpowder Cavern), Fort George, and the Martello Tower at Ferry Reach are the group of exemplary monuments which ring the Towne. In the central parishes, Forts Hamilton and Prospect still stand as excellent reminders of new forts built in the 1870s and are of interest in being land, rather than sea, forts. While at the Island's western end, Gibbs Hill is home to one of the main signal stations in 19th-Century Bermuda. There are two forts at Whale Bay, the earlier 17th-Century work almost buried in the sand below a large work for three guns erected in the 1870s to defend the entrance to Hog Fish Channel off Pompano Beach. "Further on is Scaur Hill Fort at the southern end of Somerset Island, a unique work as it is neither fish nor fowl,'' said Dr. Harris. "At that site, you can see the demise of the "fort'' as a strategic weapon which could be defended from within to the final expression of a "fort'' as simply guns in the landscape. "In this regard, we must mention that St. David's Battery, back at the East End, is the finest surviving example of the latter, being double work for two six-inch and two 9.2-inch coastal defence guns. At the same time, the two six-inch guns at Warwick Camp, which would be of great interest for South Road tours, are the last British guns to be built in Bermuda in 1939.'' Scaur Hill Fort, continued the director, protected the rear end, or "Land Front'', of the Dockyard from an army attack from the South Shore beaches. "It was a land fort and had small 64-pounder guns on disappearing carriages, the remains of which at the fort are the only known examples. We found the counterweights for these on the Hamilton Docks and Stevedoring Services kindly gave them to the fort some years ago.'' At the Dockyard, the largest British naval Installation outside Britain, nearly all of its fortifications have survived as have some of the little forts dotted across the landscape -- Sears Fort at Pokiok Farm, Hungry Bay Fort, West Elbow Bay Fort and Hunt's Fort. "These were tiny coastal batteries guarding all the bays and landing places on the South and West Shores. Given their weak construction, it is surprising that a number are still in existence. For the fort visitor, they are all of interest and could be incorporated into island-wide tours.'' According to Lance Furbert, curator of the Island's forts, even those without three days to spare can learn a lot simply by visiting Fort St. Catherine in Hamilton Parish, one of the more popular fortifications with about 40,000 visitors a year. "Basically, we are hoping to bring together all of the island's forts, to interpret them as a system rather than individually,'' he explained "When the visitor goes to Fort St.

Catherine, they will be made aware that there are many other sights around the island that they can visit. And they will understand how the forts relate to each other, the importance of their locations and how the system worked. The plan is to have Fort St. Catherine as the centre and it will continue as a museum with added information about all of the other forts. "We will have a little museum at Fort Scaur at the West End and it will give an overview of the forts in that area of Bermuda. And we will have another museum at St.

David's Battery which will date back from the early 19th-Century.'' Not only are the old fortifications important for their role in Bermuda's defence, he said, but also as nature reserves to many of the Island's plants and birds.

"I had the opportunity to talk with the Government Conservation Officer David Wingate, who is just a storehouse of knowledge. I was standing there looking at the fort for its military value and he kept on saying things like `look at that bird'. PHOTO Fort St. Catherine overlooks the beach where Bermuda's first settlers came ashore