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Historical Sites In St Thomas
Jamaican Heritage Sites In St. Thomas
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by Venesha Johnson | Associate Writer
If you are heading to St. Thomas to experience the healing waters of the Bath Mineral Spring, why not make the best of it and explore the parish by visiting some of its most important heritage sites?
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Stony Gut
The birthplace of Paul Bogle, a national hero of Jamaica. He served as a deacon for the Baptist Church in the same community. What would ultimately become known as the Morant Bay Rebellion started in this village.
In the end, the insurrection changed the peasants' precarious social and economic circumstances across the entire island, not only in St. Thomas. The insurrection served as a pretext for the constitutional amendment that replaced the previous representative system with the Crown Colony Government.
Morant Bay Fort
The Morant Bay Fort is located with a view of the harbour behind the Morant Bay Courthouse. The fort, which was most likely constructed in 1758, was intended to house nine guns. The walls of the fort are four inches thick and made of cut stone and brick.
The weapons were supported by intricate carriages made of cast iron. The three remaining weapons are 24-pounders from the first half of the 19th century. The fort used to be connected to a magazine and barracks. The fort as well as the courtroom was the scene of conflict during the 1865 Morant Bay riots
St. Thomas Parish Church
Brick is used in the construction of Morant Bay's St. Thomas Parish Church. It was constructed in 1865 when the old Church, which was located at Church Corner, was shut down due to decay. The year 1865 is baked into a brick that is part of the church's east wall.
Bath Mineral Spa
A fugitive slave found the mineral spa or spring at Bath in the parish of St. Thomas in the 1690s. He decided to risk his master's fury to bring him the good news after learning that the water from the mineral spring had cured the scars that had bothered him for years. Bath's mineral spring, which generates both hot and cold water, is fed by two rocks.
Stokes Hall Great House
Luke Stokes constructed the Stokes Hall Great House, which is located in the St. Thomas parish. He arrived in Jamaica not long after the British took control of the island of Nevis as its former governor. It was utterly devastated by an earthquake in 1907, and it is now in ruins. The Jamaica National Heritage Trust is the current owner of the magnificent mansion.
Morant Point Lighthouse
The Jamaica National Heritage Trust has recognized the 1841-built Morant Point Lighthouse as a National Monument. It is the island's oldest lighthouse. Built of cast iron tube, it is 100 feet long, 5 feet in diameter at the base, and 3 feet in diameter at the cap. It was cast in London.
It is situated near the island's easternmost point. African kru-men provided the labour that was required to build the Lighthouse. They were transported to Jamaica along with other free Africans.
Bath Botanic Gardens
A Jamaican House of Assembly statute led to the founding of Bath Botanic Garden in 1779. The western hemisphere's second-oldest, according to some estimates. Foreign plants were brought to the island as a result of the building of the garden. These included cinnamon, jackfruit, croton, jacaranda and bougainvillaea.
The breadfruit, a staple in Jamaica, was the most significant plant introduced. On HMS Providence and in 1793, Captain Bligh transported several of these plants to Jamaica.
After being repeatedly flooded by the Sulphur River and the establishment of the Castleton Botanic Garden, St. Mary, in 1860, the Bath Botanic Garden started to decline.
Morant Bay Courthouse
A significant period in St. Thomas's history was the Morant Bay Courthouse, which was destroyed by fire on Monday, February 19, 2007. The 1865 Morant Bay Rebellion took place there. The brick walls of the building are all left of this historic location. Paul Bogle's statue by Edna Manley, a National Hero located in front of the courtroom, was not defaced.
Orange Park
Formerly a coffee plantation, Orange Park is situated in the highlands of Yallahs, St. Thomas. According to the Orange Park plantation's records, John Dick and Richard Dick held the land in 1821.
It was owned by many people for a while before an artist named Basil Barrington Watson owned it for more than 30 years. There are three studio cottages, two tennis courts, the main studio, and a main home on the site.
The main studio is furnished with some of the artist's most priceless artwork and antique furniture. The National Heritage Trust now owns the site.
If you find these heritage sites intriguing, you should read more about the Parish’s history right here.
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References & Sources For Historical Sites In St Thomas
- St. Thomas Heritage Sites (no date) Jamaica Information Service. Available at: https://jis.gov.jm/information/jamaica-heritage-sites/st-thomas-heritage-sites/ (Accessed: December 9, 2022).
- St. Thomas Heritage Sites (no date) Jamaica National Heritage Trust - Jamaica. Available at: http://www.jnht.com/st_thomas.php (Accessed: December 9, 2022).
Historical Sites In St Thomas | Written: December 9, 2022
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