Fort Wellington

Ostend stopped being a fortress in 1865. Its ramparts came down and the town began turning into the seaside resort Leopold II wanted, which left the brick forts out in the dunes with nothing to defend. The one west of town had been started under Napoleon and finished after Waterloo, then renamed for the duke who won there. On a morning in late August 1876 a 16-year-old walked out to it with a small panel. On the back he wrote the date, 30 August 1876, and two words: morning, west. Ensor was already recording where the light came from. Seven years later the ground was levelled for the Wellington racecourse, and the fort's old foundations were built into the grandstand.