From coastal defences to cottages: From heritage to hotels

Events and statements over the past few weeks have given rise to a one-sided debate which is centred around the change of use of lands at Trents, St. James, and the probable destruction of the 1627 Holetown Militia Station environs for use as an hotel. In addition, information which recently entered my space assures me that in August 2021 an RFP [ Request for Proposals] (RGP-005) was issued by BTII (Barbados Tourism Investment Inc)  inviting offers to convert the 3.6-acre space into Tourism Development, but which gave only three weeks for the preferred partner to be ready for the bids. Sounds more like a “fait accompli”.

The ongoing debate is one-sided largely because of the relative paucity of information tendered, and because of the differences in the information allowed to the interested public, as well as what appears to be the shroud which has accompanied and covered what might well be the mortal remains of “fait accompli”. In answer to the several questions that have come my way in the past few weeks, and as one with a vested interest in Holetown these past 80 years, I here attempt a feeble response. However, I cannot yet answer the questions: “why do we need 18 acres to replace a three-acre lot?” and, “who does not know that the present Civic Centre is the site of the FIRST OFFICIAL EXECUTION in Barbados (of Governor Sir William Tufton, just after he had announced and incorporated Barbados’ first six parishes?”

The Press has highlighted some non-sequiturs which include: (a) whether the building which houses the police station is old enough to care about, and (b) that the date on the Obelisk is wrong.  We can dismiss both summarily, by insisting that: (a) the ENTIRE AREA which included the St. James Fort (HOLE FORT), the first such built in Barbados, is arguably THE most important English Heritage artefact in Barbados, but it is also of Amerindian significance; (b) the 1605 date on the Obelisk was an error of ancient document transcription which occurs when people either do not take the time to Write legibly, or Read properly. The correct date was out by 20 years (“1605” should have been written “1625”). That does not change the historicity of the area.

What is important is that the 1625 Olive Blossom sailors who could, scratched their names or initials on the fustic tree on the spot. They also scratched the initials “J K of E and of this island” (short for James King of England) as the act of staking the obvious claim to Barbados as the newest colony of the British Isles.  That fustic tree was uprooted in the 1780 Great Hurricane, and we were told that the “sacred spot of its roots is the exact spot of the 1905 Obelisk.”

Important Holetown lore has been handed down from generation to generation, the stories which my grandparents reiterated, and which our generation is bound – as a duty – to pass on to the generations following. There are (and were) several of us who were vested in the urge to so act. These include but are not limited to the late Ulric Rice, Neville Martindale, Luther Francis, and Mervyn Cumberbatch. They, along with Clennell Bynoe were Holetown media practitioners or regular contributors: I chose to research the Discovery and Settlement, and to write a book about these two groundbreaking events in Barbados History. 

Holetown, Barbados, Settlement Revisited, and Other Accounts (pub 2004), sets out in detail, almost all of the information needed to make a decision regarding the historicity and/or Heritage Value of the 1993 Civic Centre space, which, itself was the subject of much controversy both when the idea of the “Civic Centre” was mooted, when it was executed, but, more importantly – five years later – on Christmas day 1998, when the entire area was deemed such a disaster that some families never returned to their homes, but accepted quick sales and moved elsewhere. One regret is that not enough research was conducted to discover the 1626 weather event which put back Settlement by one year, a fact that most researchers, except Peter Campbell, did not find, but which, in the grand scheme of events, does not make a great deal of difference to this ongoing argument.

The photo collage following page 127 in the book shows most of the artefacts relevant to today’s discussion:

It shows Sir Henry Fraser’s accurate line drawings which depict the curved beachside entrance to the Police Station. It also shows the embrasure (an outline) of the actual Hole Fort, and the Powder Magazine/Strong Cell which was demolished in the 1993 project. The Photo collage (after p227) also depicts the Powder Magazine/Strong Cell.

The First Militia Building, for contrast, is shown above the 1993 renovation which is clearly evident by the exact placement of the “new” windows, and the jutting extension of the Old Courthouse which was then used as a museum exhibition room. The core building is the same.

The eastern curved entrance to the Station bears the identical chevron which appears on the 1780s repaired southern entrance of St. James Parish Church (see 1982 Ronald Reagan photo). This, at the latest, reveals 1780s construction. At the earliest, it denotes repairs to a 17th Century building of Heritage value, either of which should be considered as “Listed among our Heritage properties.”

The book’s chapter on Dislocation and Distress (p156) records an extensive list of grievances – no, wrongs – suffered by the people of Holetown. They are now both tired and Wary. The people of waterlogged Trents Tenantry (proposed nexus of the new Civic Centre) have been thrice bitten. They, and most of the rest of Holetown, are more than twice shy. But that chapter (p164) ends with a yet unfulfilled prophecy which now seems about to be made manifest:

“There is not much left to spoil, but one is confident that ways will be found to destroy even that little antiquity and comfort which is left. We should all heed the words of William Wells-Brown: “Civilisation is handed from one generation to another.” Conversely, and we are dangerously close to this stage in Holetown, Civilisation ceases when a generation is denied its forefathers’ culture and artefacts.

Morris Greenidge is a historian and author.