About
Fort Charlotte is an artillery fort in the centre of Lerwick, a short walk from Commercial Street, built to guard Bressay Sound against Dutch and later French warships. A fort begun here in 1665 during the Second Dutch War was never finished, and in 1673 the Dutch landed and burned its abandoned barracks. It was rebuilt in 1781 during the War of American Independence and named after Queen Charlotte, wife of George III, with a garrison of 270 men, yet it never saw action and not a gun was fired in anger. Its roughly pentagonal ramparts follow the outline of the 1660s fort, with a twelve-gun battery behind a zig-zag parapet facing the sound, now set with replica guns. Later it served as a jail and courthouse, custom house, coastguard station and drill hall. The grounds are open to wander, though the buildings are closed; reviewers suggest 15 to 40 minutes and enjoy the views across the harbour to Bressay. There is no parking at the fort itself.
Check today’s timesPick a day for times and prices
- Until 17 Dec
- Daily 10:00–16:00, last entry 15:30
- 18 Dec–5 Jan
- Closed
- 6–14 Jan
- Mon–Thu 10:00–16:00, last entry 15:30
Later dates are in the calendar.
Today, Saturday 24 October
- Fort Charlotte10:00 – 16:00last entry 15:30
Free entry
Opening times may change at short notice.
Historic Scotland's opening times: 1 April to 30 September daily 9.30am to 5.30pm; 1 October to 18 November daily 10am to 4pm; 5 January to 12 January Monday to Thursday 10am to 4pm, closed Friday to Sunday; 13 January to 31 March daily 10am to 4pm. Last entry 30 minutes before closing in October and March, 1 hour before closing from April to September. Closed 18 December to 5 January. The table gives no hours for 19 November to 17 December.
The grounds, ramparts and gun battery are open to walk round; reviewers note that the barrack buildings themselves are not open. Information panels on the walls. No toilets or other facilities on site; the fort is in the town centre.
Photo: Replica cannons on the grassed gun battery of Fort Charlotte, looking out over Bressay Sound to the island of Bressay. Robert Eva, CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Charlotte_cannons,_Lerwick_-_geograph.org.uk_-_6141214.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.
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