Discover Toronto's history as told through its plaques

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West Curtain Wall and Dry Moat

Photos and transcription by contributor Wayne Adam - Posted December, 2015

Along a walkway outside the east end of the Fort York visitor centre at the top of the stairs can be found this Fort York plaque. Here's what it says:

Coordinates: 43.637927 -79.405956

The walled portion of today's Fort York traces the army's 1813-16 replacement post for York constructed shortly after the Battle of York in April 1813.
An earlier fort, built between 1800-13 and situated about 100 metres east of today's garrison, was destroyed by American forces during the Battle of York in April 1813 and in a second raid later that summer. While there is virtually no evidence of the earlier post, some fortification features associated with it survive because they were incorporated into the later fort. These include the west curtain wall, a dry moat (ditch) and the Government House (or Circular) Battery.
Originally, the west wall was a detached earthwork. It was ordered built in 1811 by the Commander of the British Forces in Upper Canada, General Isaac Brock as part of the hardening of British military posts around the Great Lakes just before the War of 1812.
Aligned roughly north-south, the wall was laid out at right angle to the shoreline of Toronto Bay. It protected Government House (Lieutenant-Governor's Vice-Regal residence) from a land assault from the west and provided distant protection for the earlier garrison and Town of York located two kilometres east. Today, the west wall is open at its midpoint with a gated entrance. The original fortified wall was continuous with no gap.

Related webpage
Town of York

Other plaques in this series
Garrison Common and the Battle of York
Grand Magazine and Explosion Crater
The Main (East) Gate
Strachan Avenue Military Burying Ground
The Western Battery and The Battle of York

Related Ontario plaque
Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, K.B., 1769-1812

More
Conflict

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