Historic Sites of Manitoba: Prince of Wales’ Fort (Churchill)

Prince of Wales Fort II took more than 40 years to build at the mouth of the Churchill River on Hudson Bay. The popular European ‘star’ shape construction with four protruding bastions was selected but its massive size and small construction crew made for slow progress. Prince of Wales Fort outer walls were 6.5 meters high, 11 meters thick and were divided from the inner wall by an earthen rampart. Forty cannon were mounted within the embrasures along the parapet and commanded every approach to the fort, hence the name ‘flanker fort’. The main gate was protected from direct attack by a stone structure called a ravelin.

The fort still stands today as an important memorial of the French-English rivalry for control of Hudson Bay and its resources. In 1920, it was designated a National Historic Site by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. Cape Merry and Sloop Cove were added to the designation in 1933. An HSMBC plaque on the southeast wall of the southwest bastion, unveiled in 1936, commemorates explorer Samuel Hearne.

Prince of Wales’ Fort Interior (no date) Source: Christian Cassidy Site Location (lat/long): N58.79722, W94.21253 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba Plaques for Persons, Events and Sites of National Historic Significance

“The Healthiest Part in the Known World”: Prince of Wales’s Fort As Fur Trade Post and Community in the Eighteenth Century by Michael Payne
MHS Transactions, Series 3, Number 35, 1978-79 Season

Prince of Wales Fort National Historic Site of Canada, Parks Canada

Sources:

Information for this page was collected by Tim Worth and Christian Cassidy, and prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 19 February 2012

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