Architect Kingston- House Extension & Loft Conversion Architects Kingston

Kingston Ontario is a small picturesque city at the eastern end of Lake Ontario. Here the lake narrows down into the mighty St. Lawrence River with its famous Thousand Islands -- summer home to the rich and famous for most of the last century. The islands are also where the salad dressing got its name.

The islands are also where people crossed the river in days gone by and that made them a point that had to be guarded when the colonists to the south broke away. The British government and military put a lot of money and effort into defending this strategic point, as the French had done before them. Architect in Kingston

Kingston Ontario became a World Heritage site in 2007, mainly because the Rideau Canal and accompanying fortifications are an almost intact example of 19th Century military building. The complex of Fort Henry and the surrounding network of Martello Towers form an integrated defensive system protecting the shipyards, harbour, city, and southern entrance to the Rideau Canal -- itself a defensive water route carrying waterborne trade and supplies away from the St. Lawrence River with its threatening southern shore.

Today, the fort and towers are open to visitors, the Rideau Canal is available for pleasure boaters, and the Thousand Islands are a boat tour from the harbours of Kingston and Gananoque, a small town a few kilometres further east along the river. The shipyards and naval base they serviced are gone, as has most of the industry that supported them, which may be sad in some ways but has the benefit of leaving us a cleaner, more attractive city to live in or visit.