Fort Shirley will be your most historical building stop from the war era on Dominica. This is an English colonial fort located at the Cabrits Historical and Marine Park, which serves as an interpretation center that preserves remnants of the islands tumultuous history.

The fort is also part of the Eastern Caribbean Coastal Fortifications. This is a group of structures that have been deemed “tangible symbols of a European desire to defend the smaller islands for their valuable commodities.”

Fort Shirley is the site of the revolt by the 8th West India Regiment in 1802. This was during a time when African slave soldiers took over the garrison for a three-day protest. They were rightfully engaged over their conditions and out of fear they might be sold to slave labor in the cane fields. This act was momentous. The result — all slave soldiers in the British Empire were made free in 1807.