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Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 18
The Construction and Occupation of the Barracks of the King's Bastion at Louisbourg
by Blaine Adams
Les batimens des arsenaux de marine "seront construits avec toute la
solidité & les précautions necessaires. Les meilleurs materiaux
seront employés à cette construction, L'architecture en doit être
simple, & tirer sa magnificence & sa beauté de la disposition,
de l'étendu & de la solidite, sans y employer d'autre ornemens."
(Jean Baptiste Torchet de Boismêlé, Histoire générale de la Marine,
contenant son origine chez tous les peuples du monde, ses progrès, son
état actuel, & les expéditions Maritimes, anciennes & modernes
[Paris: P. Prault, A. Boudet, 1757], Vol. 3, pp. 42-3.)
Abstract
The first chapter of this study outlines chronologically the
mechanics of construction of the barracks of the King's Bastion at
Louisbourg. It is based primarily on plans, work accounts, repair bills
and official correspondence. Some plans of the building have never been
found, and indeed were missing in the 18th century; in 1752 some
fortification and town plans were sought and it was reported that a
search of the papers of the late engineer Etienne Verrier revealed
nothing.1 The second half of this paper deals with the use of
the building, including an analysis of its contents, and with the life
of those who occupied the barracks. Unfortunately, the documentation for
this section is not as extensive as that for construction; only one of
the several inventories that were compiled exists today; few personal
correspondence and journals have survived from this period, and there is
a paucity of the kind of information required for any exhaustive
analysis of day-to-day living.
Submitted for publication July 1971, by Blaine Adams, National
Historic Parks and Sites Branch, Parks Canada.
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