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Bridgetown and its Garrison

Les noms des biens figurent dans la langue dans laquelle les Etats parties les ont soumis.

Barbade (Amérique latine et Caraïbes)

Date de soumission : 18/01/2005
Critères: (i)(ii)(iii)(iv)
Catégorie : Culturel
Soumission préparée par :
Barbados World Heritage Task Force /Coordinating Committee Bay Street, St. Michael, Barbados
Coordonnées
13º 06' N 59º 37' W
Ref.: 1991

Description

The first major settlement by English colonizers in Bridgetown may be traced back to the year 1628. Settlers financed by the Earl of Carlisle had established this settlement ( on July 25) to stake a rival claim to that established at Jamestown (Holetown) by colonists representing the Earl of Pembroke.

The Carlisle settlement appears to have been located by the mouth of the 'Constitution River . The name Bridgetown is derived from 17th century usage which refers to the town , variously, as 'the Bridge', 'the Indian Bridge' or 'the Indian Bridgetown'. It was also called St. Michael’s town after the parish in which it was situated.

Many of the streets of Bridgetown date back to its 17th century origins. Indeed, naming was a quite deliberate act which sought to rationalize the development of urban space. In this context, legislation of the 1650s reads:

An Act for ye appointing and nominating of streets, landes, alleys, wharfes and other passages convenient in and bout ye town of St. Michael's:-

Whereas Commissioners have heretofore and more lately, been appointed for the appointing and nominating of streets, lands, alleys, wharfes and other passages ... in and about ye town of St. Michael's, heretofore ye Indian Bridgetown, for convenient passage, landing and transporting of goods and the same been approved ... as conducting to ye benefit of all persons in this Island and Merchants and ships trading to and with the same ...

A further indication of the factors which underlie the historical development of Bridgetown may be derived from Governor Dutton’s 1681 commission which required him to:

order and appoint within our said Island [Barbados and other Caribbean islands under his control] and every or any of them, respectively such and so many ports, harbours, cittyes, havens and other places for the convenience and security of shipping and for the better loading and unloading of goods and merchandizes ...

These early references serve as a backdrop for consideration of the historical development of this port-town, which, by the early 1700s, had become a major trading centre in the English New World trade. The port at Bridgetown accounted for 60 percent of the value of English exports to the British Caribbean in 1697. In that same year, Barbados exported goods to England valued at some £196,532. This compares with trade from the North American colonies where Virginia and Maryland were the only colonies to exceed Barbados' trade with an export trade valued at £227,759. Even though there was some decline from this percentage share in the period to 1705, the share of the port in the total value of British exports to the Caribbean averaged over 40 percent. The figures for exports from the Caribbean to England demonstrate a similar profile, with Bridgetown occupying a 54 percent share in 1697 and an average of 45 percent in the period up to 1705.

The importance of historic Bridgetown is also reflected in its population growth. By 1712 Bridgetown’s population was some 10, 641 which compared with Boston ( 9, 500), Philadelphia (6,500) and New York ( 5,700). This population included enslaved Africans who had become the chief labour force . Indeed, the data show that a major portion of the slave trade from Africa to the English New World passed through Bridgetown. Perhaps, the port’s place as a communication centre recommended it to slave traders as a place to gather the latest intelligence on market prices in the region.

Notwithstanding the economic and socio-political changes over the centuries, the place of Bridgetown in the history of the region is to be underscored. It was the only West Indian territory to be visited by George Washington and it has remained a mecca for those who wish to combine the nostalgia of Old World beginnings with the promise of New World syncretisms.