North Bulwark

The Fort’s Northern Corner

In the summer of 2003, excavations focused on the northeast corner of the Confederate earthwork area in a continuing search for the north bulwark of the 1607 James Fort. These excavations uncovered the northern terminus of the eastern palisade wall, the beginnings of the northern bulwark wall, and a palisade extension of the triangular fort heading to the east. Only 7 feet of the northern bulwark remained in this area because it had been disturbed by a 19th-century road. Further excavations in 2006 located the northern terminus of the western palisade and the beginning of the northern bulwark. At this location a 14-foot section of the curving northern bulwark palisade survived before it was cut off by the moat to the Confederate earthwork. It is believed that an earthen raised gun platform for cannon once stood at this location, because no postholes for a wooden deck structure were found. One large solitary post, believed to date from the fort period, was found inside the palisade at the point where the west wall ends and the bulwark begins. From the solitary nature, and large size and depth of this posthole, it may have served to seat the fort’s flagpole.