Whelk Point Fort

The main fortification was built by the British at the outbreak of the American War of Independence.

Primarily, the fort overlooks the narrow passage entering Paraquita Bay to the west - one of the largest natural harbours in the British Virgin Islands and the natural gateway to one of the relatively few large agricultural areas on Tortola.

The passage into Paraquita Bay is extremely narrow to navigate in any event with the wind and waves surging directly into the gap, and it would be almost impossible to make the entrance in an eighteenth-century sailboat under immediate fire from the fort only 100 meters away.

Although that settlement declined in importance, for a considerable part of the Territory's history (when the main administration of the islands was conducted from Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda), that was the most significant settlement on Tortola.

The fort later fell again into disrepair, and it was acquired in 1966 by Neville Westwood and his wife, who built their home on the adjacent land.