St Philip PIC hosts bus tour honouring Bussa

The St Philip Parish Independence Committee (PIC) recently hosted the Bussa Bus Tour, an immersive educational experience aimed at engaging students from the parish with the history of Barbados’ fight for freedom. 

The initiative is part of the Season of Emancipation 2025 National Heroes Project, which tasks each parish with honouring an assigned National Hero through community-led, volunteer-driven events.

Led by Committee Chair Maria Mayers, Parish Ambassadors Jennifer Burrows and Michael Elliot, the tour focused on The Right Excellent Bussa, a national hero known for leading the 1816 rebellion that began in St Philip and sparked a wider emancipation movement across Barbados.

The educational tour began at Princess Margaret Secondary School and concluded at Bayley’s Plantation, making stops at several key historical locations connected to the 1816 uprising and Barbados’ colonial past. These included  District ‘C’; Police Station, Bushy Park, Golden Grove, Fairfield and Sanford plantations.

Participants included Cubs and Brownies from Hilda Skeene and St Philip Primary, Brownies from Bayley’s, St Catherine’s, St Martin’s Mangrove, and Reynold Weekes Primary, as well as Girl Guides from Princess Margaret Secondary. 

The students actively engaged in learning activities throughout the tour, showing particular enthusiasm while exploring the windmill ruins at Sanford and taking in the panoramic view from District ‘C’.

Renowned historian Robert Bobby Morris accompanied the students on the tour and provided valuable historical insight, helping them connect the legacy of Bussa with broader themes of resistance, leadership, and identity. To reinforce what they learned, each student received a booklet on the history of the plantations for future reference.