A visit to at least one of Bermuda's forts is essential for those interested in experiencing beauty in an historic setting.

A proper tour of the Island's forts and park lands would take three days but such an exploration would be time well spent, 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 a quarter centuries, some 80-odd fortifications were built in Bermuda,'' he explained.

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.

Among the structures from various centuries, many are of singular architectural and historical quality, providing attractions that are found in relatively few other places.

"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. 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.

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.

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 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.

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 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 St. George's.

It is 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 big house: Commissioner's House -- the landmark building at the centre fo the Bermuda Maritime Museum in the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda's biggest fort.

Guardian of the forts: Forts curator Lance Furbert.