Historical Sites In Antigua

Historical sites, tools, military relics and buildings can be found all across the landscape of Antigua. They include remnants of slavery, industrial machinery, churches, sugar mills, slave dungeon, estates and structures of colonialism.

There are 334 historical sites in Antigua, and 15 in Barbuda. They include 9 industrial sites, 109 mill towers and 40 military sites according to the Antigua Meseum database.

The image on the right are the remnants of a slave dungeon located in orange valley Antigua. Slaves in Antigua were emancipated in 1834, but remained economically dependent on the plantation owners due to a lack of economic opportunities, surplus farming land and no access to credit.

 

 

Two St. John's Anglican Churches have already stood on the site of the present cathedral. The first was built of wood as early as 1681 and was said to be "totally destitute of beauty or comfort". The second was constructed with English brick about 1720 when the first fell in disrepair and became too small. The church was designed by Mr. Robert Cullen and had a short steeple at its western end.

After over a century, the church was elevated to the status of a cathedral when the Diocese of Antigua was created in August 1842.  As plans were being made to make the church worthy of its new status, a violent earthquake severely damaged it in February 1843. Temporary repairs were made and in it Bishop Daniel Davis was enthroned as the first Bishop of Antigua.

Next to the site of the first two churches a new purpose built cathedral was planned and approved by the House of Assembly. The Governor, Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy, laid the cornerstone on October 9, 1843 and on October 10 1847, the Cathedral was opened for divine service. It was consecrated on July 25, 1848.

The Cathedral is built of freestone and the architect was Mr. J. Fuller of Bath and the Clerk of Works was Mr. F. W. Rowe of Bristol. The interior is encased in pitch pine, intending to secure the building from ruin during earthquake or hurricane. It has been described as "a building within a building".

The Cathedral is dominated by twin towers at the west end and provides a distinct baroque flavour. They are 70ft high and the cupolas that crown the towers are aluminum in colour. At the time of erection, the edifice was criticised by ecclesiastical architects as being like "a pagan temple with two dumpy pepper pot towers", however in modern times the edifice has been cited as "the most imposing of all the Cathedrals of the West Indian Province".

Originally the south gate was the main entrance to the Cathedral. On top of its pillars are the lead figures of St. John the Divine and St. John the Baptist. H.M.S. Temple is said to have taken these figures from a French ship destined for Martinique in 1756 during the Seven Years War. The iron gates themselves date from 1789.

A centenarian, Samuel Smith in his memoirs (To Shoot Hard Labour), says the planters called the Cathedral "Big Church" and that it frightened the people as a symbol of English power. He also said that the Anglican Church catered more for the planter class, but the black people got more involved at about the time of World War I. At last some black persons names were memorialised on the cathedral's walls.

Today, especially after the earthquake of 1974, the Cathedral needs much restoration work. Much has already been carried out but funds are badly needed. For example US$55,500 is required for the roof, $590,000 for the foundations and stone slab floors, $55,500 for the clock, $370,000 for the Walker Organ and $55,500 for the perimeter walls. These are just a few of the areas that need attending to.

150th Anniversary Appeal
Donations for the "Cathedral Restoration Fund" may be sent to Miss Cecile I. G. Davis, or to The Very Reverend Rudolph Smithen, both addresses Box 71, St. John's, Antigua, West Indies. Photo by Deborah-May Lovell. 150th Anniversary Appeal

This military complex, within a short distance of the Dockyard, is not named after the fairer sex, but after Sir Thomas Shirley, Governor of the Leeward Islands, who strengthened Antigua's defences in 1781. Britain had lost all her West Indian colonies (including North America) at this time except Antigua and Barbados. Much effort, therefore, was put into Antigua's defences, mainly because of the island's great sugar producing value and the important Dockyard. Shirley Heights may be divided into three sections.

The Ridge and Artillery Quarters. A Ridge, on which several ruins may be noted, leads to the Heights. The first buildings on the left are the Royal Artillery Gunner's Barracks along with the Train of Artillery building (now a research centre), built in 1790 for 60 men. After the army left, it became a lunatic asylum.

The Lookout. This high point (about 490 ft.) affords a superb view of English and Falmouth Harbours, the best view in Antigua. Today, it is a Sunday afternoon rendezvous for a sampling of local music and culture. Behind the gun platform is the site of a flagstaff that once sent signals all around Antigua.

Blockhouse. This is the easternmost part of the military complex, with a magnificent view looking over the south-east coast . It was designed as a place of last refuge, which is indeed the meaning of the word. A moat opposing the vertical cliffs was originally planned, but was never started. The Officer's Quarters is in ruin as are the out buildings, servants quarters, married quarters and stables. There is a fine powder magazine, cistern and catchment that has received some restoration work.

Today, the complex is mainly in ruin except the Lookout that has been reutilised as a restaurant. Unfortunately, even though a CFTC historical architect drew restoration plans, the building was reconstructed as a profit making investment, the main problem being the use of dormers and the battlement built on where another section further north had been designated.

The splendid arches of three Officer's Quarters were destroyed by various hurricanes due to the lack of preventative shoring up of the walls, (due to lack of funds). They now need to be rebuilt with the saved original masonry. The site is still a fine tourist attraction, mainly because of two of the best views (of the Atlantic and of English Harbour) to be had in the island.

 

 

 

Monk's Hill is high table hill (588 ft. 204 m.) behind the village of Falmouth. There are extensive military ruins over the whole of its area. It was here that in 1689, the English settlers established a large fort that defended Antigua's first town and harbour, that of Falmouth. The fort took sixteen years to build and was named Great George Fort after the Patron Saint of England. The hill himself was named after the owner of the land, Nathaniel Monk, who owned the estate that included the hill.

The fortress was built as a place of last refuge in case of invasion by the French. Still to be seen, are large water cisterns used in case of such an attack. It was also useful as a stronghold and defence against Carib Indian attacks that emanated from Dominica and St. Kitts. Over the following years, the fort was greatly strengthened.

In 1712, many women and children were quartered on the hill, as invasion by the French was imminent. The public records of Montserrat were also brought here for safety. As soon as the danger was over, the women and children had to leave, as the House of Assembly had doubts as to voting the cost of the food that had to be sent into them.

In 1823 the Governor of the Fort was P. Horsford, the Lt. Gov. W. Byam and the Captain C. Taylor, who received a salary of £112. Unlike Brimstone Hill in St. Kitts, this fort was never attacked. Possibly in those days it was thought to be impregnable, as it commands the whole island, looking down on all other parts. In latter years it became a signal station. A black ball was hoisted on the flagstaff at 12 noon as a time check to sugar workers in the surrounding fields. It ceased to be used in this capacity in 1923.

A report to Parliament in 1912-13, indicated that the two powder magazines survived in fair order. Buttons of many regiments that have served in the fort have been found as a result of amateur archaeologists. A grant of money was given by the Georgian Society through Mr. Angus Ackworth in 1956, so that today it is in a good state of preservation. The main walls of the fort survive in a state of ruin, often in rubble, and the site is heavily overgrown.

DEVELOPMENT

A development plan for this heritage site has been made in the following UWI publication: Built Heritage Conservation Tourism Planning in Antigua. The Case of Fort George Monk Hill by Frederick D. G. Southwell, (1998) Dept. of Survey & Information, Engineering, UWI.

 

 

 

When St. John's became larger than Falmouth and Parham about 1703, the northern entrance of St. John's Harbour was fortified. The foundation stone for the present fort was laid with full Masonic honours in 1739. This inscribed stone may still be seen on the easterly corner. Much later, the inscription on this stone was nearly obliterated by some mischievous treasure-hunters, who had hoped to find coins behind it.

 

In the old days, it was the custom that every vessel passing the fort should pay a fee of 18 shillings to the Captain of the fort. If the ship did not comply, a shot was fired across its bows. At one time a gun exploded while saluting a nearby ship and shattered the arm of a man tending the cannon.

 

Fort James was never actually engaged in battle, but it must have been a great deterrent to French privateers from Guadeloupe that often raided St. John's shipping at the turn of the 19th century.

 

There are 10 cannon on the ramparts of the fort, these fired a 24 lb ball with an 8 lb charge one and a half miles. Eleven men were needed to handle a gun, the gun itself weighs two and a half tons. These cannon today help visitors to the fort get a feeling of the past and are thus a part of Antigua & Barbuda's historical heritage.

 

Fort Barrington

Fort Barrington is the only fort in Antigua with all its guns still in place.  Like a toy fort without its tin soldiers! It is a giant semi-circular gun emplacement dominating the approaches to St. John's Harbour. It is placed upon a hill on the harbour's south side. The lower interior is interesting to explore, for found there are dungeon-like rooms and a powder magazine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

English Harbour is the most historic part of Antigua. Time should be taken when visiting Nelson's Dockyard, to follow the path to Fort Berkeley. It is only a ten-minute stroll each way and the unfolding views of the harbour are spectacular.

The fort is placed on the peninsula forming the west entrance to English Harbour. It was started in 1704, or 21 years before the Dockyard was built. Its defences were later extended in the 1740's. In this strategic position, the fort commanded the entrance to the anchorage, where naval captains careened their ships and sheltered from hurricanes.

On approaching the battlements from a footpath starting at the Dockyard dinghy wharf, a stone quarry may be seen on the right. It was here that the building material for the fort was taken. The fortified line, once known as the "Charles Line", is further to the right.

It was named after Commodore Charles Knowles, who once commanded at the Dockyard. He added this line of battlements in 1745, when the fort was extended. On the left is a bombproof powder magazine, built in 1811 to hold three hundred barrels of gunpowder. Inside the entrance is a cooperage and shifting room for packing explosives. The next building was the guardhouse, for which there is an amusing 18th century reference to this building.

 

 

"The Guard is in great distress, the allowance of 9 pence a day not being sufficient at such a cold post to buy more than warm liquor".

In 1989, the building was re-roofed by the National Park as a pilot restoration-training project funded by Canada. The restoration is accurate to the point that the stonework shows smaller stones were used to extend the wall height. In 1751, the roof had been blown off by a hurricane. Therefore added height to the walls was needed to accommodate extra beams to strengthen the roof against future hurricanes. The restored mechanics of the inside structure demonstrates great strength, and it certainly survived the great hurricane "Luis", experienced in 1995.

At the end of the peninsula is the site of the first 1704 battery. Peeping out of the battlements towards Guadeloupe is a twenty-four pound cannon, cast in Scotland during the reign of George III of England in 1805. Look for the King's cipher on the top of the cannon and the date will also be seen. The calibre of the gun is 5.5 inches and it weighs twenty-five tons, taking eleven men to handle it. Its range was one and a half miles with an eight pound charge of gunpowder.

Over the wall at the extreme end, is an upturned cannon cemented in the rock. A chain was once attached and extended across the harbour entrance forming a boom to discourage the entry of attacking ships. The chain was lashed to old condemned masts, preventing it from sinking to the bottom of the harbour.

With this gun in the round bastion in which you are now standing, and extending along the lines, were twenty other guns. Fortunately, English Harbour was not attacked so the fort was never used in earnest, though it must have been a deterrent against assault.

On the east side of the Harbour above the "Pillars of Hercules" (q.v. under Natural Sites) it is just possible to see the walls of a half moon shaped battlement. This is the only remnant of Fort Charlotte built at the same time as Shirley Heights military complex visible high up overlooking English Harbour.

From this walk along the peninsula protecting the western side of English Harbour we can understand how well English Harbour with its vital naval dockyard was defended against attack, an attack that never happened as it was deemed too strong militarily.

 

 

 

This is a fine example of a muscavado sugar factory of the late 19th Century, reputed to have been the finest in the Caribbean in the 1890's. The large horizontal steam engine remains with its enormous flywheel still sporting its governor and ornamental colours of yellow and green. The engine is dated 1890 and was manufactured in Glasgow by McOnie, Harvie & Co.

There are two other steam engines, a high-speed one used for cutting cane prior to grinding and a small one for pumping water into the boilers, which still possess their massive pressure gauges. About 1945, the Antigua Distillery Ltd took over Montpelier, Lynch's, Colebrook's, Brown's, Walrond's, Harman's and Hope's

Estates.
The reason for buying the factory was to produce molasses for their rum distillery at Rat Island.

In 1952, the large overhead crane was brought in from Barbados. Mr. Francis Nunes was the last Manager. He held the position from Nov 1946 until Jan 1955. The factory closed down due to labour troubles after the last crop in 1954. The last planter to live in the estate house was "Tank" Maginley, who in retirement, became host at the Kensington Hotel in St John's.

In a field nearby is a private cemetery of the Harman family. Buried there are Samuel Harman who died in 1759 and another Samuel Harman dying in 1767. Their wives accompany them both. (For details, see the Museum's "Persons" database).

Overlooking the factory is the old windmill tower, which has now been converted into a large water tank. It smiles down on what was once a glorious part of the time when sugar was King. What a fine tourist attraction this ruin of an old sugar factory would make!

Machinery still to be seen.

• Two high-speed enclosed crank single cylinder double acting engines (one mentioned above).
• One twin cylinder winch engine that works the conveyor system.
• Two Weir double acting shuttle valve pumps for boiler feed Duplex pump, slide valve double acting (in pieces, near Weir pump).

 

 

 

Betty's Hope sugar plantation was founded by Christopher Keynall in 1651. In 1674, it was granted to the Codrington family, who were living in Barbados.  Under the Codrington ownership, Betty’s Hope was soon transformed into one of the most efficient large-scale sugar estates in Antigua.

 

From 1689 to 1704, two successive Christopher Codringtons served as Governors General of the Leeward Islands, and later heirs continued to be among the most influential and prosperous planters throughout the colonial era.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the purposes of the Museum is to research the nation's historical sites, which would certainly include the shipwrecks around Antigua and Barbuda. There is one, within a short distance of shore, at Deep Bay, near the Royal Antiguan Hotel.

The research department believed it would be advantageous for tourism and for general interest to Antiguans & Barbudans if its history was sought. Some elderly people at Five Islands village remembered hearing about this marine disaster and made a guess at the approximate year. The National Archives were able to produce newspapers of that period and information was soon found in the Antigua Standard of 10 June 1905.

The name of the ship was the barque "Andes", a three masted steel merchant sailing ship, that sailed from Trinidad on 5th June 1905 with a cargo of 1,330 barrels of pitch to be used for the paving of roads in Chile. As there had been no Panama canal yet built, the route around the tip of South America was to sail first north-east over the Atlantic, thence across the South Atlantic with the trade winds to Cape Horn.

As the cargo had been stowed badly, it seems heat had developed through friction caused by rubbing, enough to cause smoldering. Capt. Rees Griffiths decided to put into Antigua, but the Harbour Master made the "Andes" anchor in Deep Bay, since she would have been a danger to shipping in St. John's Harbour. When the hatches were opened to unload and inspect the cargo, the added air caused a conflagration. Her decks fell in and her rigging was consumed. The "Andes" sank bow first on June 9th and there she still lies.

Today nearly 100 years later, the wreck of the "Andes" is one of Antigua's historical resources. Antiguans and visitors snorkel to explore her. The wreck is most interesting from the general ship construction point of view and for the prolific and varied fish and coral life. The Marine Areas Act of 1972 protects the wreck. Under no circumstances can anything be taken away from the wreck, leave it intact for future Antiguans and visitors to enjoy.

 

 

 

 

Nelson's Dockyard

This heritage landmark is the only remaining naval dockyard in the world designed to maintain wooden sailing warships of olden times. It was started as early as 1725, though it had been used as shelter from the mid 17th century. The first recorded ship at English Harbour, anchored to survive a hurricane, was a yacht. It was a naval ship chartered to the King for the use of his Governor of the Leeward Islands.

Nelson— The famous British hero of Trafalgar (1805), Horatio Nelson, was here as Senior Captain (27 years old) in 1784. As a zealous Naval Officer, he enforced the Navigation Act, which stated only British ships could trade with British islands. America had become independent, so Nelson severely upset the Antiguan merchants by suppressing their long standing trade with the former British American colonies. At one time, if he had left his ship (Boreas), he would have been arrested. The merchants were attempting to sue him.

The Dockyard's main function was to maintain and careen ships, thus saving the long voyage to America for docking. The yard was abandoned in 1889, and in 1930, restoration was half-heartedly started, and in 1951, it went full ahead. The National Parks Authority took over from the Friends of English Harbour in 1984.

 

Falmouth

This present day village near English Harbour is supposed to have been the first town of Antigua. In 1672, it possessed the only church of the island, which also served as a courthouse. Above this village is the famous Fort George on Monk's Hill built from 1689 to about 1730. It was a place of last refuge against the attacks of Caribs and other European powers.

 

 

 

 

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Gunthorpes Sugar Factory (1904 -1972)

The remains of this sugar factory is an important part of Antigua's history. Before the 21st century all sugar mills were owned by individual planters scattered over the island. Then when sugar cane output began to fail a central factory was built at Gunthorpes Estate in 1904.

Here Antiguans were better able to communicate with each other, and seeing their exploitation, shop stewards were first formalised. By 1939, a trade union had been established. Soon an alliance between Government and a trade union led to the Ministerial system, thus a path to Independence was attained. Sugar ceased to be ground in 1972.

 

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Data Compiled from the museum of Antigua & Barbuda database.