Description of Historic Place

Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) Building 30a, which consists of the Lunette and the guardhouse component within, is located along the bastion wall, at the entrance to the former Fort Frederick at the Point Frederick Buildings National Historic Site of Canada, now part of the campus of Royal Military College of Canada. The Lunette consists of high, battered stone walls, pentagonal in plan, with a rectilinear extension on its bastion side. The small, stone guardhouse within these walls has a gable roof supported on heavy timbers. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

RMC Building 30a is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and their architectural and environmental value.

Historical Value
RMC Building 30a is associated with the pre-confederation enlargement of the defences at Fort Frederick beginning in 1846. Fort Frederick was constructed in 1813 to defend Kingston harbour against the United States. RMC Building 30a was part of the perimeter defences surrounding the martello tower, where it protected one of the flanks and an entrance to Fort Frederick. The building has since had various uses, such as a workshop and smithy, a ‘General Staff Museum’ after 1922, and subsequently as a service and washroom building.

Architectural Value
RMC Building 30a is a good example of a specialized military defence design consisting of a stone outwork in the form of a detached bastion. Its very good functional design can be seen inside its walls, where a guardhouse structure with windows and loopholes protects the entries to the bastion. The ‘rear’ is more or less open to allow for movement from the main walls. The rough coursed ashlar walls, with dressed quoins of irregular-size blocks, demonstrate the structure’s very good craftsmanship.

Environmental Value
RMC Building 30a reinforces the character of its park-like setting at Point Frederick National Historic Site of Canada and is a familiar structure in the area.

Sources: Joan Mattie, Lunette Building (Building 30a), Ammunition Storage (Building 30b), Fort Frederick, Royal Military College, Kingston, Ontario, Federal Heritage Building Review Office Building Report 93-99; Lunette and Guardhouse, former Fort Frederick, Royal Military College, Kingston, Ontario, Heritage Character Statement, 93-099.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of RMC Building 30a should be respected.

Its specialized military defence design, very good functional design and very good craftsmanship, for example:
- the complex, angular stone walls, symmetrically arranged around a small open space and incorporating a small, gable roofed guardhouse;
- the ordered combinations of coursed stone, dressed and rusticated, that correspond to the treatment of all the Fort Frederick structures from 1846;
- the open interior space, faced by a gabled frontage;
- the regular, narrow defensive openings, including loopholes and windows, tapered in plan with their dressed stone surrounds facing in all directions.

The manner in which RMC Building 30a reinforces the character of its park-like setting Point Frederick Buildings National Historic Site of Canada and is a familiar landmark, as evidenced by:
- its specialized military defence design which harmonizes with the open landscape.
- its combinations of stone work which corresponds with all of the Fort Frederick structures from 1846;
- its role as a public facility for the museum of the Point Frederick Buildings National Historic Site of Canada which makes it familiar to both visitors and staff.