MSC CRUISE – LESSER ANTILLES
Barbados Mar 15, 2022
Barbados is in the Caribbean region, but out in the Atlantic 100 miles east of Saint Vincent and Saint Lucia with a volcanic origin. Barbados has formed from coral and has a gentler, fertile landscape.
Barbados is about 32 km long and 23 km across at its widest. The island is characterized by several distinctive and in parts unique geological, geographical, biological, as well as cultural features, most of which are located in the Scotland District. The first peculiarity is the location of the entire island of Barbados, which stands in isolation in front of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles. Furthermore, all those islands consist essentially of volcanic rocks, yet Barbados does not have a volcano but instead has a base of sedimentary rocks that are covered by terraces of carbonate rocks. Barbados also has an amazing array of sedimentary rock formations and structural geological features, including mud diapirs, the largest of which is in the subsurface of the Scotland District.
Capital: Bridgetown
Currency: Barbadian Dollar (BBD) Bajan dollar, Bds$, B$. US dollars are accepted in shops and restaurants. The exchange rate is fixed at 2 Bajan dollars to the US dollar.
Population: 284,6000 (2013)
Language. The official language in Barbados is English, but the pronunciation may be high, fast, and hard to follow. Bajan is a creole language based on English, Irish and West African Igbo vocabulary and expressions.
Country Code: +1246
Visa. Most visitors do not need a visa for tourism.
Barbados was “bubbled” and could only be visited by ship’s tour or taxi. However it would have been easy to leave the cruise ship area and hire a car. We ended up with a great taxi driver (O’Brian) who gave a very interesting tour of the island ($180).
WESTERN BARBADOS. North of the city is the west-facing, most sheltered coast with Holetown and Speightstown and many tourist hotels and small guesthouses.
Paradise Beach. In front of a Four-Seasons Hotel development, it was hard to access. The development has been years in the making and looks like it has ground to a halt.
St. James Parish Church, Folkestone. Pale white stone Anglican church reconstructed in 1874 containing a huge bell from the late 1600s. Nice woodwork and lovely round stone columns and arches.
NORTH BARBADOS
Mount Gay’s Visitor Center. Well-being. Distilleries. Part of The Industrial Heritage of Barbados: The Story of Sugar and Rum Tentative WHS. Visit the original buildings from 1703. Our Historic Distillery Tours take you through our fully-operational rum-making headquarters. Discover how Barbados became the birthplace of rum and how Mount Gay’s focus on quality has made us the oldest, continuously running rum distillery in the world. With unparalleled access to our working estate, you will explore our lands, original well, molasses house, fermentation house, distillation house, and bonds.
St. Nicholas Abbey. House Museums/Plantations. A plantation house, museum, and rum distillery – built the house in 1658, now one of only three genuine Jacobean mansions in the Western Hemisphere. St Nicholas Abbey has no church connection, it has always been a sugarcane plantation house. The exact origin of its name is not known but rumour has it that it was named after George Nicholas, husband to Berringer’s granddaughter, Susanna. Berringer was killed in a duel with his neighbor, Sir John Yeamans, who then married Berringer’s widow and claimed the abbey as his property. In 1669, the Colonel’s children took the matter to court and were awarded ownership of the property. Sir John and his wife then moved to British America, where they helped found South Carolina. The house was later acquired by the eminent baronet, planter, and legislator, Sir John Gay Alleyne (1746 until his death in 1801). He planted the impressive mahogany avenue leading to Cherry Tree Hill.
The abbey was no longer a functioning plantation after 1947. Sugar has been grown on the plantation since 1640 and there is still evidence of the mill and sugar-making edifices. The cane is now trucked eight miles to the Portvale Sugar Factory for processing.
Since 2006, the abbey is owned by local Barbadian architect, Larry Warren. Warren built the St. Nicholas Abbey Heritage Railway on his estate, which was completed by the end of 2018.
St Nicholas Abbey is currently a well-preserved museum, successfully recreating 18th-century plantation life complete with; Wedgwood pottery, Chippendale furniture, curvilinear Dutch gables with tall finials of carved coral stone, and corner chimneys. The entrance portico, Chinese Chippendale staircase, and cedar paneling are later additions to the home. The fireplaces and walled Medieval herb garden were almost certainly included in the original plans brought from England and copied faithfully.
There is a rare 1930s film of life on a sugar plantation that is available for viewing in the museum. Listed by the Barbados Tourism Authority as one of the “Seven Wonders of Barbados,” the property has attracted several thousand visitors a year. Amongst the mahogany trees are box, cabbage palm, silk cotton, and avocado trees.
St. Nicholas Abbey Heritage Railway. 1.5km narrow gauge railway that runs from St Nicholas Abbey to the panoramic viewpoint on Cherry Tree Hill. 3/4 hour train ride + the stop. $30 adult. 1914 locomotive made in Germany. Manual turntable at the end. One of the few distilleries with rum made from cane. Tastings and tours on a 1658 sugar plantation with a Jacobean mansion and rum distillery. Much history in the house.
Barbados Wildlife Reserve. 4-acre wildlife park with brick pathways and animals wandering in a mahogany forest. Many monkeys and tortoises.
Saint Andrew Parish Church, Belleplaine. Established in 1630, it survived the hurricanes that ravaged the island of Barbados in 1780 and 1831 but it soon fell into a state of disrepair, demolished in 1842, and rebuilt in 1846 as a traditional, English church with its gothic-inspired architecture and square tower.
The Industrial Heritage of Barbados: The Story of Sugar and Rum. Tentative WHS (02/12/2014).
St. Nicholas Abbey, Morgan Lewis, Codrington College, Newton Burial Gr, Mount Gay Distilleries, St.Lucy.
Favoured with flat terrain, a geographical position to windward of all other islands which was easily defended, good soils and rainfall, and a diverse population with access to sufficient capital, Barbados developed the earliest successful sugar industry and slave society in the English Caribbean. Land, labour, and capital
The selected areas were all, until the 20th century, entangled in a complex web of ownership, family relationships, and industrial management by the Barbadian planter elite who leveraged their property ownership, profits, and social and political networks to rise to the top of both Barbadian and British society.
From the 1640s, increased European demand for sugar created a socioeconomic revolution. With sugarcane’s intensely demanding and unforgiving agro-industrial process, it condemned the enslaved Africans to lifelong physical and psychological abuse. Slavery defined the Atlantic World with its total reliance on African forced labour producing the primary materials that drove European mercantile economies. The plantation complex lay at the core of colonial societies from Brazil and the West Indies to the American mainland and West Africa. Enslaved Africans’ blood, sweat, and tears forged complex international trade, social, and political networks in the Atlantic World. Enslaved Africans, in spite of their bondage, resisted their enslavement in every possible way from day-to-day acts of resistance to slow productivity on estates to marronage and open rebellion.
From 1643 until very recent times, sugar and rum production has been the mainstay of the Barbadian economy. As a result, the tropical islands of the Caribbean became the strategic centre of the Atlantic World and were vehemently defended and fought over in European conflicts throughout the 17th and 19th centuries.
With its sugarcane fields, plantation complexes, mill infrastructure, and factories, nestling on the slopes and in the valleys/ gullies of the island, illustrate the impact of human settlement, slave labour, and agricultural activities on the natural landscape.
These social and economic patterns were then exported to the rest of the Caribbean including Charles Towne (later Charleston, South Carolina).
The Sugar Revolution had six central elements: “a shift from diversified agriculture to sugar monoculture, from production on small farms to large plantations, from free to slave labour, from sparse to dense settlement, from white to black populations, and from low to high value per capita output.” The intensive use of advanced and efficient windmill technologies increased the output of muscovado, and the local clays in the refinement process increased the quality of muscovado produced in Barbados.
Used as an alternative to water, the locally consumed ‘killdevil’ or ‘rumbuillion’ which is today known as rum, was first produced in Barbados on all plantations for local consumption and export, becoming a staple in British naval victuals in the 18th and 19th centuries. As demand increased, rum distillation quickly became a feature of most sugar plantations across the region.
All of the plantations can be traced to 17th-century militia landowners who first developed plantation estates. Leveraging the rudimentary road network and jetties, plantations took advantage of sea routes to Bridgetown. Land consolidation through marriage and intricate bequests kept land holdings together through the generations.
1. Codrington College– A college that was first used as a sugar plantation and now an Anglican theological college in St. John, affiliated with the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill. It is the oldest Anglican theological college in the Western Hemisphere.
Codrington College was founded with the profits from the bequest of Christopher Codrington, who after his death in 1710 left portions of his sugar cane estates. As the sugar cane estates were still operating, the Society and the College benefited directly from the forced labour of African slaves. Codrington Plantations continued to use slave labour and even branded the word “Society” on the chests of slaves. Slavery only ended when the Slavery Abolition Act was enacted in 1833. At that time, in accordance with the Slave Compensation Act 1837, the Society received funding (a little over £8,823 for 411 slaves) as compensation for the loss of the slave labour, as was the case for all slave owners.
2. Morgan Lewis Windmill, St. Andrew, Barbados the last sugar windmill to operate in Barbados. The mill stopped operating in 1947, was restored, and is one of only two working sugar windmills in the world today. During February through July, its sails are put in place and it operates one Sunday in each month, grinding cane and providing cane juice. Around the interior of the mill, wall is a museum of sugar mill and plantation artifacts, and an exhibition of old photographs. Visitors can climb to the top of the mill.
3. St Nicholas Abbeyis a plantation house, museum, and rum distillery built by Colonel Benjamin Berringer in 1658. This house is one of only three genuine Jacobean mansions in the Western Hemisphere, the period between the Tudor and Georgian styles, beginning in the reign of James I.
Nicholas Abbey has no church connection, it has always been a sugarcane plantation house. The exact origin of its name is not known.
The ho St use had a succession of owners and families. Sir John Gay Alleyne (lived here from 1746-1801) planted the impressive mahogany avenue leading to Cherry Tree Hill.
Sugar has been grown on the plantation since 1640 and there is still the evidence of the mill and sugar making edifices. Sugar was processed on the property until 1947, the cane is now trucked eight miles to the Portvale Sugar Factory for processing.
Since 2006, the abbey is owned by local Barbadian architect, Larry Warren. Warren built the St. Nicholas Abbey Heritage Railway on his estate, which was completed by the end of 2018.
St Nicholas Abbey is currently a well-preserved museum, successfully recreating 18th-century plantation life complete with; Wedgwood pottery, Chippendale furniture, curvilinear Dutch gables with tall finials of carved coral stone and corner chimneys. The entrance portico, Chinese Chippendale staircase and cedar panelling are later additions to the home. The fireplaces and walled Medieval herb garden were almost certainly included in the original plans brought from England and copied faithfully.
One of the “Seven Wonders of Barbados,” the property has attracted several thousand visitors a year. Amongst the mahogany trees are box, cabbage palm, silk cotton, and avocado trees.
4. Newton Slave Burial Ground–The remains of nearly 600 slaves were found on the grounds of the former Newton Plantation, in use from 1670–1833, at a cemetery consisting of low mounds.
The Scotland District of Barbados. Tentative WHS (18/01/2005). The highest elevation of Barbados is Mount Hillaby in the Scotland District, 340 m above sea level. Although small by comparison to some of the volcanoes in the islands of the Lesser Antilles, Mount Hillaby, and with it the Scotland District of Barbados, is the summit of an elongated submarine mountain range that is several hundred km long, extending from Trinidad to about Puerto Rico. The Scotland District is the only location in the entire Caribbean where this mountain range is above water. Geologically this range is called an “accretionary prism”, which is a thick wedge of sediments that forms on the ocean floor at the junction of two tectonic plates that are pushed together, such as the Atlantic and the Caribbean plates. Continuing compression further deforms and pushes the accretionary prism upwards. The island of Barbados is growing in size as a result. Physiographically, the Scotland District appears as a half bowl containing the hilly highlands of Barbados, with a dense, in parts jungle-like vegetation, quite unlike the rest of the island, which is rather flat, deforested, and commonly used for agriculture. The overall shape of the Scotland District is that of a round bowl cut in half by the Atlantic ocean that borders along the straight east coast, with sand beaches and dunes. The remainder of the Scotland District is bordered by a variably steep cliff face. The lively topography in the interior of the half bowl is the result of the interplay of complex tectonic folding, faulting, and surface erosion, which commonly leads to landslides. These also are the reasons why the Scotland District is relatively sparsely populated and not used for agriculture, except in some very small pockets. The Scotland district contains rocks about 30 to 50 million years old, namely clay stones, sand- and siltstones, volcanic ash layers, chalk, and radiolarite (chert or flint, when hardened), as well as some odd rock formations such as mineral concretions that resemble huge canon balls. Most of these rocks are folded and faulted in a complex way. Oil has formed from some of the rock layers, and the so-called Scotland Sandstone hosts several oil fields at depths of about 1,000 to 2,000 m. Oil even reaches the surface in a few natural oil seeps in the Scotland District. In some locations the oil is oxidized and solidified to tar-like substance called ‘manjak’.
Morgan Lewis Mill, St Andrew. A working windmill built to mill sugarcane in the 1700s.
Bathsheba Beach. Bathsheba is a fishing village with 5,000 inhabitants on the east coastline with Saint Joseph Anglican Church built on Horse Hill in 1640 but was rebuilt in 1839 following a hurricane in 1831. Cotton Tower has views of Scotland District. Bathsheba beach has a large boulder that is undercut and sits slightly offshore, known by some as Bathsheba Rock. This beach is known for its surfing and is a dangerous swimming beach because of undertow. The Atlantic side of the island has large surf.
Bathsheba Coastal Walk. Trails 2 – Hikes. 7.2km point-to-point trail located between Bathsheba and Bath – gorgeous walk through fields, along cliffs, beaches, and through small copses of trees and is good for all skill levels. Elevation gain 99m. Good bus access – ask the drivers for info on trailheads.
Andromeda Botanic Gardens, Bathsheba. The 6-acre authentic garden was created by Iris Bannochie, a female, Barbadian, self-taught scientist. It is unique, having been created in the 1950s as both a private botanical garden and a pleasure garden by an individual around Ms. Bannochie’s home. She was a mentor to many and was considered the queen of Barbadian horticulture. At one point, she was responsible for introducing over 80% of the ornamental plants found in Barbados.
Andromeda has over five hundred different species of plants adapted to a range of tropical environments: 50 species of palm, 100 different tree species, and 90 plant families, one of the most plant-diverse gardens in the tropical world.
At the center of the upper garden is a majestic native banyan.
Ragged Point Lighthouse. On the easternmost point of the island, it is an 85-foot coral stone structure that was erected in 1875 at over 200 feet above sea level. Its light goes 21 miles and is considered Barbados’ most significant lighthouse, protecting sailors from the turbulent Atlantic coastline and the hazardous Cobbler’s Reef, where 22 shipwrecks were logged during the fifty years preceding its construction.
On a clear day, you can see all the way up the coastline to the northern points of the island such as Cove Bay and Pico Tenerife. Off the coast lies Culpepper Island, a tiny island that can be reached by swimming at low tide. Enjoy a stroll along the clifftops where you’ll be rewarded with exhilarating breezes and beautiful views. You’ll often see locals along the clifftops fishing.
SOUTHERN BARBADOS. A tourist strip of hotels, bars, and restaurants, one long traffic jam honking its way through Rockley, Saint Lawrence (the main party zone), Oistins, and Silver Sands. East of the airport are fewer hotels, the coast trends north-east and becomes rugged and the seas are stronger.
Sam Lord’s Castle. Sam Lord (1778 – 1844) was one of the most famous buccaneers on Barbados. Lord amassed great wealth for his castle-mansion in Barbados. He did this through the direct plundering of ships stranded in the coral reefs just off the coast of his estate. According to legend, Sam Lord would hang lanterns high in the coconut trees around his estate. Passing ships far out at sea would think it was the port city of Bridgetown and would sail towards the reef in the area, leading them to wreck their ships. Sam Lord would then board the ships and keep the riches for his castle.
Eventually, his castle estate was turned into a hotel called the Sam Lord’s Castle. In 2010, it was gutted by a major fire (the story is that a new owner didn’t treat his employees well, they provided poor service and busniness plummeted. The fire is thought to have been arson for insurance purposes. Acquired by the Wyndham Hotel Group. Construction on a new resort started in 2017. The original castle is apparently inside the present construction zone.
Crane Beach. Reached by a lift or steps from the hotel, the wide, 250-yard-long stretch of pink-tinged sand, backed by a palm grove, is arguably the most photogenic beach anywhere in Barbados. It’s partially protected by an offshore reef, but the waves can still be big and swimming isn’t always safe (lifeguards are on duty). Sargassum (smelly seaweed) has recently been an issue at times, though the hotel has gone to great lengths to combat the problem.
The Crane. Hospitality Legends. A vast, gated hotel and timeshare complex above a gorgeous beach in the out-of-the-way southeast corner of Barbados. With large, luxurious apartment-like rooms, excellent dining options, beautiful swimming pools and a pretty village with shops, a bar, and a café, you should want for very little.
On low cliffs above Crane Beach. The hotel is out on its own in the often-breezy south-eastern corner of the island. There are exhilarating, wild beaches nearby (some good for watersports such as kite-surfing), but not much else of interest. To drive to the lively tourist areas of the south coast takes at least 20 minutes, and across to the calm beaches and upmarket restaurants on the west coast, around 40 minutes.
It dates from 1887 and claims to be the oldest continuously-operating hotel in the Caribbean. However, most of what you see is modern. Spread over its 40 acres are 252 rooms (most in beige-colored and turreted five-story blocks), six restaurants, cafés and bars, an attractive faux village, its coral rock, and wood-clad buildings in neo-colonial style, and much else besides. With winding pathways, lots of tropical vegetation, and glorious views over Crane Beach and out to sea, it’s all very enticing, but you are cut off from the real Barbados. A fabulous, giant, landscaped swimming pool complex has various pools set in tiers on a clifftop.
BRIDGETOWN The capital has two historic areas: around the Careenage (old harbour) in the city centre, and the Garrison Savannah to the south which has the George Washington House. There’s little accommodation here.
Masjid Ibn Umar. The Islamic Teaching Centre was started in the 70’s in the city and now has a permanent home at Harts Gap, Hastings. This Centre was set up to cater to the needs of the wider Barbadian community who were interested in Islam.
This tiny mosque is an old house. The prayer hall is small and very ordinary.
There is another mosque in town.
Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison. World Heritage Sites. British colonial architecture consisting of a well-preserved old town built in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, that testifies to the spread of Great Britain’s Atlantic colonial empire. The nearby military garrison also has numerous historic buildings. With its serpentine urban lay-out the property testifies to a different approach to colonial town-planning compared to the Spanish and Dutch colonial cities of the region which were built along a grid plan.Bridgetown was the earliest established town with a fortified port in the Caribbean network of military and maritime-mercantile outposts of the British Atlantic. It was the focus of trade-based English expansion in the Americas as an entrepôt for goods, especially sugar, and enslaved persons destined for Barbados and the rest of the Americas.
The 17th century street layout is English medieval type with organic serpentine streets and creolized forms of architecture, including Caribbean Georgian.
The fortified port spaces were linked along the Bay Street corridor from the historic town’s centre to St. Ann’s Garrison. The property’s natural harbour, Carlisle Bay, was the first port of call on the trans-Atlantic crossing. It was the Eastern Caribbean headquarters of the British Army and Navy transmitting colonial ideas and cultures: administration, trade, communications, science, culture, and technology.
They created a hybridized Creole culture in the Anglophone Caribbean.
St. Ann’s Garrison and its fortifications, which protected the town and its port, constitute the most complete complex of an 18th-19th century British garrison ensemble in the Atlantic World, unchanged for 200 years.
The Screw Dock is an outstanding but highly vulnerable structure, and the 18th and 19th-century warehouses are built to withstand hurricanes and other threats in the tropical environment.
The museum and G. Washington House are in the Garrison.
Barbados Museum and Historical Society
George Washington House. House Museums. A historic house where the future first U.S. President George Washington stayed in 1751. He was 19 years old at the time and traveling with his half-brother, Lawrence Washington, who was suffering from tuberculosis. George Washington contracted yellow fever during his stay, and was nursed back to health at the house. Barbados apparently was the only country outside the present United States that George Washington ever visited.
In 1997, during an official visit to Barbados with her husband, President Bill Clinton, First Lady Hillary Clinton unveiled a plaque outside the house that reads: On the occasion of his visit to Barbados this plaque was presented by President William Jefferson Clinton to The Right Honourable Owen S. Arthur, Prime Minister, and to the People of Barbados in a spirit of friendship and goodwill which binds our two countries and in recognition that George Washington, the first President of the United States of America, lived in this house during his visit to this fair country in 1751.
In 2011, the property was designated as a UNESCO protected property within the World Heritage Site of Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison area. The house is owned and maintained by the Barbados National Trust.
Chamberlain Bridge. Pedestrian Bridges. In 1872, it was a swing bridge across the marine inlet channel of the inner basin of the Careenage (Constitution River) at Carlisle Bay. Chamberlain Bridge is the more “decorative humpbacked bridge” built to replace the original swing bridge after the Great Hurricane with funds generated through the efforts of the then British Colonial Secretary, Joseph Chamberlain (1836–1914).
The outmoded steel structure was dismantled and rebuilt in 2005–2006 as a lifting bridge with the state-of the-art modern technology of an all-composite single-leaf bascule design. This design is a counterweighted bridge span that pivots upward, permitting pleasure craft to pass through an inlet channel. The bridge was built using fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP), which is lighter, long lasting and non-corrosive.
Museum of Parliament and National Heroes Gallery.
St. Michael’s Cathedral. This lovely church is 3-nave with balconies over the lateral naves. The ceiling is a highlight – wood vaulted with nice vaults over the altar.
Things I didn’t see
CENTRAL EASTERN BARBADOS. The least developed and most scenic part, a lush botanic garden at Andromeda, plantation houses eg Sunbury, and Harrison’s Cave in the underlying limestone. The hilly east coast is exposed to the full fury of the Atlantic, with big surf, and is too hazardous for casual beach and water sports.
Botanical gardens are mostly in the hilly, less-developed country of Central Eastern Barbados.
Flower Forest Botanical Gardens, St. Thomas. Scenic garden park with attractive flowering plants and tropical trees on 50-acre (200,000 m2), a former sugar plantation. Collections of Heliconias, ginger lilies, bromeliads, anthurium lilies, and other tropical flowers presently provide a flowering base underneath tall, indigenous Caribbean Royal palms, which grow wild in the Scotland District of Barbados.
Harrison’s Cave. First mentioned in 1795, they were rediscovered in the early 1970s and developed by the government as part of a tram tour, and opened to the public in 1981.
It is in the central uplands (gullies, sinkholes, and caverns) at 700 feet (210 m) above sea level. The caves are naturally formed by water erosion through the limestone rock.
Traveling through the caves is by tram. One main area of the caves is a huge cavern, termed “The Great Hall“, measuring over 50 feet (15 m) in height. “The Village” some of the formations have joined together to form columns after thousands of years. Other areas are “The Chapel,” “The Rotunda,” and “The Altar.” Visitors travel through the Boyce Tunnel via tram to all depths of the cave.
From the Tram Tour through the caves where you can learn more about the cave’s history, as well as learning more about the natural structures found within it, to the Eco-Adventure Tour where you can walk through the cave itself, crawling on your hands and knees. Prices do vary, with the Eco-adventure Tour costing more, and requiring you to book in advance. However, they also offer Walk-In Cave Tours on the last Saturday of every month. The Walk-In Cave Tours are exactly the same as the Eco-Adventure Tours, and do not require prior booking, and are also cheaper if you want to go with a small group of people.
Hunter’s Gardens, St. Joseph. In a naturally formed gully are an array of tropical flowers, trees and foliage along with statues, antiques and other beautiful decorative pieces. Admission: US$15 per person
Fisherpond House. House Museums/Plantations. It’s believed that the Fisherpond Great House was built either in the 16th or 17th century. It was once owned by several individuals – first there was Sir Marmaduke Rawdon, who, sometime between 1628 & 1630 had secured land from the Earl of Carlisle, ‘owner’ of Barbados. Marmaduke owned Fisherpond and Rawdon plantations. As well, he owned several merchant ships and properties in London. He was knighted by the King sometime in 1643. He died in 1646. His son Thomas, became new owner of Fisherpond, until 1666.
The property was sold several more times. In the 1800s, it belonged to Thomas Hollingsworth, whose Will was published – Fisherpond plantation and his other estate to be sold after the harvesting of the crop, so there would be sufficient money which he could list in his Will to be left to several people including his brother’s widow, his aunt & sister, “my illegitimate” child and her mother. He also left an inheritance to his female slave “for the purpose of freeing her.” He left his friend William Grassett as the executor of his Will.
We note that soon after, William Grassett was the owner of Fisherpond Plantation until the mid-1800s. The property then changed hands a few more times.
In the 21st century, the property, owned by John & Rain Chandler, has become the place to have Sunday lunch, by appointment. You must call ahead also on other days. You’ll be in good company as the Queen of England and some of her grandchildren have had lunch at the Fisherpond. As well the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, also sat at the dining table for 24, at the Fisherpond Great House.
The plantation home which was lovingly restored and filled with antiques. Please note that Fisherpond is no longer open to the public. The grounds of Fisherpond were ablaze with tropical flora while fountains and water features complete the charming atmosphere.
Orchid World & Tropical Flower Garden, St George. On six acres surrounded by sugarcane at an elevation of 810ft, follow a self-guided tour past a waterfall, through a coral grotto, and eventually through five orchid houses. Vandas, Phalaenopsis, Calanthes, Cattlyeas, Ascocendas and Dendrobiums, just to name a few, can be found throughout. Vandas and Ascocendas, ‘rain forest’ orchids, are displayed in an environment meant to be a simulation of the condition in which they would grow in the rain forest. This simulation is an eye-catching display, as they seem to hang in mid-air with the orchids’ roots completely free of soil.
Sunbury Plantation House. House Museums/Plantations. Was built around 1660 by Matthew Chapman, an Irish/English planter, one of the first settlers on the island. He was related to the Earl of Carlisle and through this association, was granted lands in Barbados. Sunbury Plantation House is over 300 years old, steeped in history, featuring mahogany antiques, old prints, and a unique collection of horse-drawn carriages. This is the only great house with all rooms available for viewing. The Courtyard Restaurant and bar offers refreshments to visitors daily.
What to Do? Rent a car or scooter and drive around the island. There are 27 Nomad Mania sights spread evenly around the island including 4 botanical gardens, 4 beaches, 2 caves, 1 lighthouse, 2 churches, 7 museums in Bridgetown, and a mixed variety of other sights.
Get Around
By Bus. The bus system is extensive, cheap, and fast.
By Taxi. With reasonable prices, they do not use meters and it is best to negotiate the price before you get in.
By Car. Renting a car is expensive, the roads quite narrow, with sharp turns, steep inclines, and are generally quite bumpy, although most are paved. Many do not have sidewalks, so there can be pedestrians. The exception is the ABC highway.
By Scooter may be hazardous due to the lack of sidewalks, frequent potholes, sharp corners, and speeding local buses.
Eat. Bajan cuisine is an odd mix of spicy, flavorful treats along with traditional English fayre – fiery stews accompany beans on toast. The yellow sauce is very hot Scotch Bonnet peppers with onions in a mustard sauce. Cutters are sandwiches made from bread and popular fillings like flying fish, ham or cheese. Eat at street vendors offer snacks like fish cakes, BBQ pigtails, fresh coconut, and roasted peanuts.
Drink. Rum and rum-based drinks are featured at every bar. For tours of a rum distillery, Mount Gay (the brand leader) and Southern Barbados. Banks Beer is Barbados’ own brew.
See
Botanical gardens are mostly in the hilly, less-developed country of Central Eastern Barbados. The standout is Andromeda Gardens, near Bathsheba. Others include Hunte’s Gardens, Flower Forest, and Orchid World.
Grand houses from the plantation and colonial eras. Those routinely open for visits include the George Washington House and Wildey House in Bridgetown, and Sunbury Plantation House and Codrington College in Central Eastern Barbados. Several others are only open on special occasions, such as the Open House days in Jan-March. But you really need to time your visit to dodge the coach parties and cruise ship excursions. While that applies to any tourist attraction on Barbados, it’s especially true for these houses – they’re grand but not palatial, and cramming into a Georgian four-poster bedroom with fifty other amply-fed folk takes the gloss off the experience.
Do
Diving in Barbados. Scuba diving here is boat-based, as the main reefs and wrecks are too far out for comfortable shore-diving. Most dive shacks are in Bridgetown (see listings) but pick up from hotels along the coast between Speightstown and Oistins:
Watch cricket at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown. West Indies play as a combined team for international matches (“Test matches”, lasting up to five days). Barbados also competes as a nation in other competitions in the Caribbean region. First-class matches are sometimes played at other venues around the island, but the big games are always at the Oval.
Visit a rum distillery. Three distilleries are in production: Mount Gay in Bridgetown is the best known (M-F Sa Nov-Apr). West Indies Rum Distillery (source of Malibu liqueur) in Bridgetown only offers tours by special arrangement. Four Square in Saint Philip in Southern Barbados offers free self-guided tours M-F.
Barbados (Bridgetown) updated Feb 2020
Tentative WHS
The Industrial Heritage of Barbados: The Story of Sugar and Rum (02/12/2014)
The Scotland District of Barbados (18/01/2005)
XL: North (Animal Flower Cave area)
BRIDGETOWN World Capitals World Cities and Popular Towns
World Heritage Sites: Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison
History, Culture, National and City Museums
Barbados Museum and Historical Society
Museum of Parliament and National Heroes Gallery
House and Biographical Museums: George Washington House
Religious Temples
Masjid Ibn Umar
St. Michael’s Cathedral
Pedestrian and Historical Bridges: Chamberlain Bridge
Sports Museums: Bridgetown: Cricket Legends of Barbados Museum
Railway, Metro, Funiculars, Cable Cars: St. Nicholas Abbey Heritage Railway
Roads, Road Bridges and Tunnels: Road – ABC Highway (Grantley Adams-Cave Hill)
Castles, Palaces, Forts: Sam Lord’s Castle: Sam Lord’s Castle
House and Biographical Museums
Barbados: Fisherpond House
St. Nicholas Abbey
Sunbury Plantation House
Religious Temples
Belleplaine: Saint Andrew Parish Church
Folkestone: St. James Parish Church
World of Nature: Barbados Wildlife Reserve
Botanical Gardens
Bathsheba: Andromeda Botanic Gardens
St George: Orchid World & Tropical Flower Garden
St. Joseph: Hunte’s Gardens
St. Thomas: Flower Forest Botanical Gardens
Caves and Sinkholes
Animal Flower Cave
Harrison’s Cave
Trails 2 – Hikes: Bathsheba Coastal Walk
Beaches
Bathsheba Beach
Crane Beach
Paradise Beach
Hospitality Legends: Barbados: The Crane
Well-being
Distilleries: Mount Gay’s Visitor Center
Eco-Experience: Bellevue Plantation
Lighthouses: Ragged Point Lighthouse
Windmills and Wheels: St Andrew: Morgan Lewis Mill