Site management

Where winds blow hard across the ridge in Aulac, you’ll find the ruins of an 18th century fort and its historic battleground.

France built Fort Beauséjour in reaction to Britain’s establishment of Fort Lawrence, and to protect its interests in the region.

Later captured by the British, Fort Beauséjour was renamed Fort Cumberland in 1755 and the deportation of the Acadians (descendants of the 17th-century French colonists) began.

During the American Revolutionary War, Fort Cumberland and its garrison repelled rebel attacks led by American sympathizer Jonathan Eddy. If Fort Cumberland had fallen, Nova Scotia might have become the 14th American colony.

Today you can feel a connection to the soldiers and settlers who once called this place home. See fascinating artifacts and exhibits and tour the site’s ghostly remains, casemates and ramparts. You’ll be swept away by the site’s panorama of land, sea, sky and story.