📌 Lerwick, Shetland Mainland
★★
Fort Charlotte is a hilltop artillery fort close to the town centre of Shetland’s capital, Lerwick. The fort was built in 1665 to protect the town from Dutch (and later French) warships, but no shots were ever fired. Instead, the buildings served a variety of military and non-military purposes over the following centuries, including use as the town jail, custom house and coastguard station. Today, there’s not much to see except some replica cannons and the old powder magazine, but the hilltop location makes the fort a good vantage point from which to gaze across Lerwick’s rooftops towards the island of Bressay, just as soldiers once did.
🌍 Location
📌 Charlotte Street, 5-min walk northwest of Lerwick town centre
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: HU 476416
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 60.155420,-1.144303
🚌 Bus to Lerwick
🚢 Lerwick main ferry terminal (0.5 mi) | 🚗 Street parking nearby
📝 Key info
⌚ Daily, February to November; Monday to Thursday, 8-31 January 2024
🎫 Free
