Landscapes of conflict: Heritage of the Rideau Canal & Kingston Fortifications World Heritage Site
Loading...
Authors
Bazely, Susan
Date
2024-05-24
Type
thesis
Language
eng
Keyword
landscape , historical geography , visual geography , heritage , World Heritage , Rideau Canal , Fort Henry , Kingston Martello towers
Alternative Title
Abstract
When inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2007, the Rideau Canal and the Kingston Fortifications were joined in a single site, but occupy geographically, historically, and phenomenologically different spaces. The inscription, driven by the parochial concerns of property owners along the canal, not by pre-existing federal heritage priorities, deters further development, but perpetuates an ultimately misleading impression of the canal and fortifications. The prevailing narrative sees the canal as an engineering marvel that with the fortifications kept British North America free from American annexation, a fear at the heart of Northrop Frye’s Canadian ‘garrison mentality’. Through a selective use of the visual record — mainly watercolours by British officers contemporary with the construction —, the canal is seen as a tranquil waterway, the preserve of isolated canoeists, not a corridor for steam-powered vessels towing barges, the intended users of the Rideau. It is no surprise then, that the site is today poorly understood by visitors and locals in Kingston, who struggle to connect a canal beyond the urban core with a fortification embedded within a still militarized space, set apart from everyday life. Without strong local understanding of the past connection between the canal and fortifications, one rooted in historical geography, the future protection of both, against a bewildering patchwork of government jurisdictions, and development pressures is uncertain.
This dissertation situates the Rideau Canal within the history of British canal construction in its era and shows it as a ‘successful failure’. Certainly an engineering marvel, it was never put into operation militarily, and failed as an economic corridor. It did not lead to canal construction in Canada that used John By’s innovative slackwater techniques and represents an engineering ‘dead end’. Similarly, Kingston’s fortifications never saw action like other major Canadian fortifications but were built and maintained as a bulwark against a feared American expansion that never materialized. Analysis of their development, show that rather than state of the art defenses against an imminent threat, they were constructed mainly as a training exercise during a lull in global British fort-building, and not updated adequately to address the evolving American threat. This re-evaluation of the geography and history of the canal and fortifications does not diminish their heritage value, or global level recognition, but is a starting point for new more inclusive counter-narratives in the 21st century.
Description
Citation
Publisher
License
Queen's University's Thesis/Dissertation Non-Exclusive License for Deposit to QSpace and Library and Archives Canada
ProQuest PhD and Master's Theses International Dissemination Agreement
Intellectual Property Guidelines at Queen's University
Copying and Preserving Your Thesis
This publication is made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws without written authority from the copyright owner.
ProQuest PhD and Master's Theses International Dissemination Agreement
Intellectual Property Guidelines at Queen's University
Copying and Preserving Your Thesis
This publication is made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws without written authority from the copyright owner.