Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 12

Louisbourg Guardhouses

by Charles S. Lindsay

Abstract

Louisbourg guardhouses are studied from two aspects, architectural and functional, by bringing together primary historical and archaeological evidence from Louisbourg, secondary historical evidence from France, and pictorial evidence of surviving French guardhouses. The results have shown that Louisbourg guardhouses were parallel in building techniques and materials with the simpler guardhouses used in lesser positions in France. In layout and function they were consistent with the principles applied to all French guardhouses. The evidence also shows that, consistent with much of the other construction work at Louisbourg, few concessions were made to the climatic differences between France and North America.

Submitted for publication 1971, by Charles S. Lindsay, National Historic Parks and Sites, Ottawa.