About

This simple, worn earthwork of Fort Cricket Hill in Mathews County is the tangible remnant of the event that marked the end of the last vestige of British rule in the Virginia colony. In July 1776, Virginia troops commanded by Gen. Andrew Lewis took up position here to keep in check the camp set up by Lord Dunmore, Virginia's last royal governor, across Milford Haven inlet on Gwynn's Island. Lewis's batteries opened fire on the British on July 8, forcing Dunmore to abandon his position and sail with his fleet for England. Only a small section of the original Cricket Hill fortification remains, preserved in front of a yacht-storage facility, and included within the Gwynn's Island Historic District.