Fort Charles, ruined fort in Charlestown, Nevis, Saint Kitts and Nevis

Fort Charles stands in ruins on the coast at Charlestown, Nevis, begun in the 1630s and rebuilt under Governor Charles Wheeler, who renamed it for King Charles II. Its rectangular plan has merlons at the four corners and a redan behind the landward gate, added after the French took the fort from the land side in 1706. An old wall, a cistern, a powder magazine and several cannon remain.

Fort Charles began as a modest fortification in 1628, one of the oldest in the Lesser Antilles, and was later rebuilt and renamed for King Charles II after Governor Charles Wheeler judged it too small. Its 26 guns guarded Charlestown harbour and the sugar trade; in 1706 Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville took it from the landward side, and in 1782 a French garrison held it until 1783.

The fort was renamed Fort Charles in honour of King Charles II, and Charlestown, the capital, took the same name. A detailed map drawn in 1679, kept at the Nevis History Museum, records the original walls, their dimensions and the secondary structures inside them.

Fort Charles stands on the coast just north of Charlestown, Nevis, and is reached on foot; the ruins are open to the weather. Cliff erosion has carried away much of the seaward wall and continues at about a metre a year, so keep back from the edge. The interior walls and cisterns survive; wear sturdy shoes for uneven stone.

A 1679 map of Fort Charles, showing the dimensions of the original walls and the positions of secondary structures inside them, is held at the Nevis History Museum. The fort's landward redan was added after the French took the fort from the land side in 1706.