King's Yard Gate Sierra Leone

The ancestors of nearly all present-day Krios passed through King's Yard Gate, atop Tower Hill in the strategic military Martello Tower, built in 1805. Now the site of Connaught Hospital, this is where the British brought rescued slaves to begin their new lives, passing through King's Yard Gate to await resettlement and medical care by the British. Many of these new arrivals climbed the nearby Old Wharf Steps, sometimes erroneously called the Portuguese Steps.