Fortescue is a community and census-designated place (CDP)[5] in Downe Township, Cumberland County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

[6] The community is located on the state's southern coast, on the Delaware Bay, surrounded on three sides by marshland.

The area was named for John Fortescue, a local property owner at the time of American independence.

[9] Overfishing led federal authorities to establish limits in the mid-1970s on the weakfish catch, though by 1990 the fish population had crashed, severely impacting the commercial fishing economy in the area.

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.