When the British were no longer able to use ports in their former American colonies, they chose this site as their 'Gibraltar of the West'. In addition to the superb Bermuda Maritime Museum, Bermuda's largest fortifications comprise a prison, a Victorian victualling yard, barracks-turned-mall, several restaurants, craft markets, manmade beach and snorkel park, and the island's most comprehensive water-sports center.
The Keep, the sprawling fortress on the edge of the dockyard, was built of limestone blocks in Georgian style and was first used by the British navy as a base to launch their raid on Washington, DC, in 1814. It later served as a North Atlantic base during both World Wars but was abandoned as a costly outpost in 1951. Since then the buildings – including eight historic buildings, old munitions warehouses and the gorgeous Commissioner's House – have been renovated and given a second life as shops and museums.