For several years BPS has been staging its annual Photowalk on the first Saturday in October, the same day as the Scott Kelby International Photowalk which takes place in cities around the world. This year, Photowalk day arrived on Saturday 3rd October and Speightstown was the chosen venue for our members to explore again and photograph. The weather forecast was for cloudy skies but with a low probability for rain.
In addition to the expected absence of the early morning sun at 6:00 am on the day, also absent was Ansley Weekes who is our usual walk leader and orator of the history of local places of note. He made his contribution however, by providing a brief history of Speightstown itself and notes on the significance of the key local sites to guide us on our walk through the quaint town. Ansley’s notes (in italics) will be used in this article to take you along with us on this walk back in time.
Speightstown
The town was named after William Speight, an early settler, landowner, merchant and a member of Henry Hawley’s parliament of 1639. It was nicknamed Little Bristol, as the town carried on its major trade with Bristol in England. It was noted for whaling as whales were found off the north coast and whale oil was shipped from Speightstown to England. Schooners plied to and from Speightstown and Bridgetown daily transporting produce and people and the jetties were the offloading and loading points.
Architecture- The architecture represents the old look of Barbados with overhanging balconies, jalousie windows, window hoods, gable, four-hipped and Dutch gables. In old Speightstown, families lived on the upper floor and shops occupied the lower floor. There are some slave huts. One is virtually opposite the entrance to the present Alexandra School. Slave huts were designed by the Irish white indentured servants made from rubble stones stuck together using cow dung, molasses, eggs in the mixture with thatch roofs originally, small windows. These offered stability during storms. Compare the varying window hoods and
Look at the style of jalousie windows, verandahs, louvred doors, gable roofs of the fish market, the historic business houses and homes.
The expanded and modernised "slave hut"
Starting our walk opposite the Alexandra Secondary School, our group of eleven saw what was thought to be originally a “slave hut” or the home of former indentured servants. What started as a mean, single roof, soft stone shelter was extended over time into a sizable family home.
Alexandra School – It was originally located opposite Arlington House at mid- point of the main street. The building had a closed balcony and is now part of the Mango Bay establishment. The school was later moved to Merton House, which used to be the residence of the Parochial Medical Officer for the parish of St. Peter under the old vestry system. The school opened in 1894 as a secondary school for girls was named after the Princess Alexandra the wife of Prince of Wales, who later became King Edward VII.
Fort Locations - Orange Fort was located mid-town by the fish market, Coconut Fort and Denmark Fort to the south end of the town, the foundations of the latter can be seen from Jordan’s Supermarket car park. These as well as well as others along the coast from St. Lucy to Oistins were built to defend the island against invasion flotillas sent by the Oliver Cromwell government between 1651 and1654. The attacks on Speightstown were repelled by Barbadians loyal to the British monarchy, the forts being very instrumental in keeping the invading ships out to sea.
One of the canon at the eroded Fort Denmark
Noel Roach Building
Built in the early eighteenth century, this is an example of a building used as a residence on the upper floor and a shop or business on the ground floor. The upstairs balcony allowed the family to enjoy the evening air and overlooked the street and the sea. The attic windows in the roof served as ventilation ports as well as look out ports, especially towards the sea, to provide early sight and forewarning should enemy or friendly ships be approaching. This building was once used previously as the Barclays Bank first branch in Speightstown. At an earlier period, it housed the Post Office and the Noel Roach Pharmacy.
The Noel Roach building taken a few years ago
Arlington House- This building was originally the ship’s chandlery (outfitters of ships) owned by the Skinner family. The three- story building was constructed around 1750 and was subsequently used as a Health Centre and then the Lions Club “Den” of the north. It is now an interactive museum dedicated to the history commerce, schooners and jetties of the town and the plantation and sugar production experience of the north of the island.
The special feature of the structure is the architecture- A single gable roof tapering to one side. A single room with the shop on the bottom floor and living quarters on the top. Note the jalousie windows, the window hood design, the size of windows and the neat roof eaves to protect against lifting in storms. There was a stair on the outside leading to the upper floor but this was removed. Note also the attic windows on the roof and the gable windows to the roadside. These provided ventilation as well as serving as look-outs for enemy and friendly ships. This “single house” design was thought to be the style of architecture taken north to Charleston by the original Barbadian settlers who colonized South Carolina, USA.
Arlington across from the site of a recent fire
Old Library/ Post Office- This building on the seaside of Queen Street, encased now in galvanize, if not restored soon, is likely to fall. Upstairs was the library, downstairs the post office. The librarian and post mistress were respectively the aunt and mother of Professor Sir Henry Fraser respectively.
An internal view of the old Post Office
St. Peter's Parish Church - This substantial and stately church was built in 1629 and rebuilt 1665 and 1837. It was partially destroyed in 1980 by fire and was thankfully restored to its present condition. It is of Georgian architecture like St. Mary’s in Bridgetown. A feature of Georgian or Norman or Roman architecture is the use of semi-circular windows. This church features stained glass windows and intricate wood carvings on the inside. Churches built with pointed arches or windows and towers like the St. Michael’s Cathedral are referred to as Gothic architecture.
St. Peter's Parish Church
Members of the photowalk group took the opportunity to wander throught the side streets of the town and along the beach walk looking for interesting scenes to capture. Although it was an overcast morning, I am sure that some of us were able to see Speightstown in a different light on this Photowalk 2020.
Photos from Sybil Edghill's collection
Photos from V. Gittens collection
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