Fort Berkeley guards the entrance to Nelson's Dockyard in English Harbour. The Fort was started in 1704, over 20 years before construction began of the dockyard and it was used up to the mid nineteenth Century.

Before Nelson's Dockyard was built, captains used English Harbour as a natural shelter against hurricanes and Fort Berkeley standing out on a natural peninsula offered perfect protection from both the weather and enemy ships.

The original 1704 cannon battery at the end of the peninsula was extended in 1745 with a further line battlements and a large powder magazine was added in 1811 (which has been restored in 1989 by the Nelson's Dockyard National Park).

Fort Berkeley can be reached easily by a ten minute cliff path walk from Nelson's Dockyard.