STENA NORDICA outbound for Rosslare transiting past the breakwater.

Photo taken from the gun battery at Fishguard fort.

Fishguard Fort is an 18th Century fortification on the rocky promontory of Castle Point, overlooking Fishguard harbour to the south-east.

Eighteenth Century Fishguard was bustling. Herring boats brought their catch to be dried, salted, smoked and exported. Timber, coal and limestone arrived by sea. Salmon were fished on the river Gwaun and a small factory produced cloth. Smugglers brought wine and spirits in via isolated coves.

During the American War of Independence American and French privateers prowled the coast. In 1779 a smuggler’s guns repelled an attack by the Black Prince. Its captain had tried to hold the prosperous port to ransom.

After their experience with the Black Prince, Fishguard’s townspeople wrote to the Privy Council asking for cannons. The Privy Council agreed, on condition that the townspeople themselves build the fort.

Later, revolutionary France became a threat. However, ammunition was often in short supply. When a French fleet entered the harbour on 22nd February 1797 all the gunners could do was fire a volley of blanks. It was enough to deter the invading fleet, which landed at Carreg Wastad instead. This became known as the Last Invasion of Britain.