The east bulwark or bastion of James Fort was located in December of 1995. The first indication was a curved palisade line similar to the south curtain wall. This palisade forms a quarter of a circle The western most part of the palisade was destroyed by the construction of the Pocahontas monument in the early 1920's. The palisade also seems to have been impacted by some sort of earth moving on the southern section closest to the modern seawall. This could have happened early in the history of the fort during one of the rebuilds or possibly as part of the 1861 confederate earthworks construction nearby.

Ten feet outside the bulwark palisade and following the same curve is the bulwark trench. This trench was the result of digging soil to pile up along the palisade thus creating a greater barrier than a palisade alone. Regardless, the trench was open during the early James Fort period. The artifacts found in the lower levels of the trench are consistent with the material found in Pit 1. The presence of crucibles with melted glass and copper residue is a clear sign of the industrial trials associated with the 1607-1610 time period at the fort. A large amount of waste from glass making was found in the west end of the trench. This is undoubtedly the byproduct of the "trial of glasse" which took place in or around the fort prior to the end of 1608.

Many other artifacts discarded in the early 17th century were found in the trench. A complete unbroken drinking jug was found just under the glass slag. Also from the trench came 15th century armored breastplate, a Welsh buckler, bandolier cylinders, gun parts, and other good examples of early ceramics wares.