Place

Moat

At the left and right sides of the panel, against a color illustration of light blue sky with pale pink clouds, black text in English and Spanish reads:. Multi-Use Moat. It smells and sounds like a farmyard. Mooing cows, clucking chickens, and snorting pigs are penned in the moat. The 1702 British siege made staying in town dangerous. Townspeople moved into the fort for protection, bringing their livestock with them. Farmers brought their recent harvest to extend the storeroom rations. For more than a month, nearly 1500 people crowded into the fort, relying on these provisions until the siege ended. This wide, dry ditch made the Castillo less vulnerable to infantry attacks. Combined with other defenses, the moat protected the fortâ€™s lower walls from cannon fire. The uncovered expanse also exposed would-be attackers to soldiers firing from the fortâ€™s gun deck. End of Text Between the English and Spanish text, a wall of the white, wedge-shaped fort bastion recedes back into the distance. The ends of several cannons poke out of square-shaped cut outs called embrasures along the upper portion of the fortâ€™s wall. Below the fort is a muddy area where 5 cows, 3 with horns; 6 brown and black pigs; and 13 chickens meander. A man in a blue shirt, white pants, and cap sticks a pitchfork into the back of a straw-filled blue cart. Chickens peck on the straw that is already on the ground. On the left, on top of the coquina stone wall a man in a knee-length brown coat, knee-high brown boots, and black hat leans against a long brown musket. To the right, white text caption in English and Spanish reads: The moat was filled with water from 1938 until 1996, when the National Park Service drained it to reflect its original appearance. At the bottom right, a small circle divided into 4, triangular wedges. Each wedge has a portion of a flag and date range for an important period in the fort's history. 1 wedge is bright, indicating the time period of the panel story and the other three wedges are muted. From the top, moving clockwise: Great Britain: 1763-1784; Spain: 1784 to 1821; the United States: 1821-1900; and Spain: 1672-1763, is bright. Below the circle, white text in English and Spanish reads: First Spanish Military Era. Beyond the panel, a grassy area in between the 6-foot high stone wall to the left, and the fortâ€™s 30-foot high grey stone wall to the right is the moat. Ahead, a brown wooden walkway set on 6 Â½ to 4-foot high stone pylons that run from the wall at the left to the fortâ€™s entranceway at the right. [End of message]

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

The moat is a protective feature around Castillo de San Marcos. Like other features of Castillo, this one has had different uses throughout history.

Last updated: February 12, 2021