Blockhouse
In military science, a blockhouse is a small fortification. It usually has one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire rifles or handguns in various directions.[1] It usually refers to an isolated fort in the form of a single building. It serves as a defensive strong point against any enemy that does not possess siege equipment or, in modern times, artillery. A fortification intended to resist these weapons is more likely to qualify as a fortress or a redoubt.
In modern times, it may be a pillbox, a small underground bunker. However, a blockhouse may also refer to a room within a larger fortification, usually a battery or redoubt. The term "blockhouse" is of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Middle Dutch blokhus and 18th-century French blocus (blockade).[2]
Blockhouse Media
Completed in 1750, Fort Edward in Nova Scotia, Canada is the oldest remaining military blockhouse in North America.
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Reconstructed European wooden keep at Saint-Sylvain-d'Anjou, France, has a strong resemblance to a North American western frontier log blockhouse
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The Henrican blockhouse at Mount Edgcumbe near Plymouth, Devon, which is believed to date from circa 1545
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Blockhouse of Westreme Battery, built in 1715–16 in Mellieħa, Malta
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A 19th-century-era blockhouse in Fort York, Toronto
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Sentinel Blockhouse in Burgersdorp
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Rice Pattern Blockhouse located on Kalkheuwel
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The Admiralty Citadel, St James' Park, London, in 2008
References
- ↑ Stephen C. Spiteri (2010). "Illustrated Glossary of Terms used in Military Architecture". ARX Supplement. MilitaryArchitecture.com: 637. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
- ↑ "blockhouse (n.), blockade (n.)", Online Etymology Dictionary