Stewardship and management

Canada and America weren’t always such good neighbours. In 1812 the United States declared war and the British colony of Upper Canada was particularly vulnerable. Prescott, a settlement on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, was so strategically important to the British that they built Fort Wellington there between 1812 and 1814. Eventually abandoned, it was rebuilt in 1838 to defend against another American threat during the rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada.

The blockhouse, officer's quarters and other structures have been restored to their mid-1840s appearance. Staff in period costume offer visitors a taste of what life was like here 200 years ago. An adjacent visitor centre contains the wreck of a 19th century gunboat, one of many that may have been docked at Prescott during the War of 1812 when Fort Wellington did its part to defend what would become Canada.