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Origin and history

Berwick's dread was a military fortification built in 1694 during the reign of Louis XIV, located in Saint-Paul-sur-Ubaye, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. She derives her name from the marshal of Berwick, a military figure of the time. The building adopted a broken triangular shape, reinforced by murderers, and could accommodate about fifty defenders. It included a powder shop and two hangars, illustrating its strategic role in defending the Upper Ubaye Valley.

After more than a century of decommissioning, the dread was restored in 1891 on the initiative of General Séré de Rivières. It is then integrated into the local defensive system facing Italy and serves as housing for a engineering company (82 men) working on the construction of the Fort de Tournoux. Temporary barracks were added to house 193 civilian workers. The building was finally listed as historic monuments in 1940, recognizing its heritage importance.

The enclosure, in rubble, draws a triangle rectangle with a small tower covered with lauzes, divided into three levels. A small adjacent building served as a powder shop. The dread is part of a series of defensive works built by Creuzet de Richerand during the occupation of the Ubaye by the troops of Catinat. Traces of its use as a repository and refuge persist until 1940, marking its functional evolution over the centuries.

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