A Tale Of Two Bastions: A Comparative Analysis Of The West And North Corner Bastions Of St. Mary’s Fort

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Bastions, Buttons, and Burials: Recent Research at Historic St. Mary’s City", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

“We have seated ourselves, within one half mile of the river, within a pallizado of one hundred and twentie yarde square, with four flankes,..'' These were the words written by Governor Leonard Calvert to friend and financier Sir Richard Lechford in May of 1634. With the discovery of the St. Mary’s Fort via geophysical survey in 2018, Calvert’s description appeared less than truthful, revealing a palisaded structure measuring approximately 104 x 59 yards with a single bastion, or flanker, at its west corner. Archaeologists at Historic St. Mary’s City have since confirmed the existence of the west corner bastion along with a smaller, rectangular bastion at the fort's north corner. These two bastions are distinctly different in size, shape, and construction. This paper aims to analyze these opposing characteristics, comparing both bastions’ emplacement, architectural construction, and functional elements to understand how these factors informed their roles of defense.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Bastions, Buttons, and Burials: Recent Research at Historic St. Mary’s City   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow