Barbados - Downtown Bridgetown Travel Guides | Barbados | Sub Regions | Barbados - Downtown Bridgetown

Aside from the historic area at Garrison, this is the most interesting part of Bridgetown, with National Heroes Square as the city’s hub and the Careenage a reminder of its nautical past.There are no really large buildings except Tom Adams Financial Centre, which houses the central bank and the Frank Collymore Concert Hall. Swan Street is now a lively pedestrian street where Barbadians do their shopping and street music is sometimes performed. On Broad Street, previously called Cheapside, Exchange Street and New England Street, you will find a whole range of sophisticated shops catering for tourists, with large shopping malls, duty-free shops and department stores. More developments are planned along by the Careenage where old warehouses are being converted for other uses.

Sights

This small, triangular ’square’ is the hub of central Bridgetown. It was called Trafalgar Square until 1999 and there is a statue of Lord Nelson, sculpted by Sir Richard Westmacott and predating its London equivalent by 30 years. Admiral Nelson visited Barbados with his fleet in 1805, a few months before his death, and the square was named in 1806, with the statue being erected in 1813. The name has recently been the subject of some controversy as it was thought to link Barbados too closely with its colonial past. After more than 30 years of independence, the Little England jibes were a trifle past their sell by date. Nelson was turned 180° so that he no longer looked down Broad Street, the main shopping area. He is now to be moved when a suitable home can be found and when someone can work out how to do it. Moving something that heavy is no mean feat. The square is now celebrating 10 official national heroes, including Sir Grantley Adams. There is a memorial to the Barbadian war dead and the fountain commemorates the piping of water to Bridgetown in 1861.

To the north are the neo-Gothic Parliament Buildings. The West Building was built in 1871 and the East Building was finished in 1874. They are imposing grey buildings with a red roof and green shutters. The clock tower on the west wing dates from 1886, the original having been demolished, amd now houses public offices. The East Building, housing the Senate and the House of Assembly, has stained glass windows depicting British kings and queens from James I to Queen Victoria and even includes Oliver Cromwell. You can walk between the buildings (providing you are correctly dressed). Running south from the square is Chamberlain Bridge, for centuries one of the capital’s two main wooden bridges. It was given its present name at the beginning of the 20th century in honour of Joseph Chamberlain, British Colonial Secretary, who gave the island a large chunk of money in grants and loans to keep the economy afloat. It is closed to traffic and is a pleasant pedestrian walkway over Constitution River, with vendors setting up stalls selling jewellery and handicrafts. The second bridge, going off southeast from the square, is the Charles Duncan O’Neal Bridge, named after one of the founding fathers of democracy in Barbados (1879-1936) and a national hero. The old bridge was pulled down in 1967 and replaced with a wider, stronger, modern structure to take the increased volume of vehicular traffic. If you are driving, the junctions can be a bit scary until you get the hang of the one-way system as locals drive very fast over the river. The market and one of the bus stations create extra hazards on the south side of the bridge.

St Michael’s Row.

Take the northeast exit out of National Heroes Square along St Michael’s Row to reach this 18th-century Anglican cathedral. It has a fine set of inscriptions and a single-hand clock. The first building was consecrated in 1665 but destroyed by a hurricane in 1780. The present cathedral is long and broad with a balcony. It has a fine vaulted ceiling, at one time the widest in the world, and some tombs (1675) have been built into the porch. Completed in 1789 with £10,000 raised in a lottery, it became a cathedral in 1825 with the arrival of Bishop Coleridge, but suffered hurricane damage in 1831. Sir Grantley Adams and his son, Tom Adams, both prime ministers, are buried here along with other famous Barbadians.

If you continue east, you reach Queen’s Park, a pleasant, restful park just outside the city centre, with the largest tree in Barbados: a baobab with a circumference of 61½ ft (18 m), thought to be over 1,000 years old. Queen’s Park House was once the residence of the General commanding the British troops in the West Indies. It was known as King’s House until Queen Victoria came to the throne, but is now a small theatre (Daphne Joseph-Hackett Theatre) and art gallery. There is a small restaurant and bar, which does a good lunch and a buffet on Friday.

Synagogue La, T 4277611. Mon-Fri, 0900-1200, 1300-1600.

The synagogue is an early 19th-century building on the site of the 17th-century original, one of the two earliest in the Western hemisphere. The original synagogue was built in the 1660s by Jews fleeing Recife, Brazil, who heard that Oliver Cromwell had granted freedom of worship for Jews and gained permission to settle in Barbados. Cromwell granted the first pass to settle in 1655 to Dr Abraham de Mercado, an elder of the Recife society and his son David Rafael. Jews in Barbados were granted the right to worship publicly even before Jews in London, and Barbados was the first British possession to grant Jews full political rights at the beginning of the 19th century. Recently painstakingly restored, the syna- gogue is now used for religious services again and is open to visitors. The tomb of Benjamin Massiah, the famous circumciser of 1782 lies on the left hand side of the graveyard, just inside the entrance.

James St and Coleridge St.

In a block along Coleridge Street are the Public Library, founded by Scots philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, the Law Courts and the Central Police Station. At one time the Legislature, the Law Courts and the jail were on this site, leading Henry Nelson Coleridge to write in 1832: "His Majesty’s Council, the General Assembly, the Judge, the juries, the debtors and the felons, all live together in the same house". On the other side of the road opposite the library, is the Montefiore fountain, now dry. It was built as a drinking water fountain in 1864 by John Montefiore in memory of his father, a leading merchant who died of cholera.

St Michael.

First known as Pilgrim House, it was purchased for the Government in 1736 from John Pilgrim, a Quaker, as the permanent residence of the Governor. It is a typical example of a plantation Great House, with arched porticoes, jalousie window shutters, verandas, a parapet roof and a circular driveway, as well as delightful gardens. It is not open to the public, however, except for special functions and National Trust open days.

Bay St, at the corner of Jemmotts La, St Michael, T 4262325.

This is the Roman Catholic cathedral, started in 1840 but not long built before it was gutted by fire in 1897. The current building dates from 1899 and was built through subscriptions and donations from the Government and, Protestants and Jews as well as Catholics. It became a cathedral in 1970.

Bay St.

Bay Street runs south of the city centre hugging the edge of Carlisle Bay, which is a surprisingly good beach considering how close it is to town. Yachts anchor here, snorkelling and diving parties call in, and there are beach facilities: umbrellas, sunbeds, food, drink and parking at the Boatyard. Hugely popular are the water trampoline and the inflatable water slide which looks like an iceberg. It’s a lively place and often packed with cruise ship visitors. A marine reserve is being created here with a series of six interlocking underwater marine trails. There are four shallow wrecks and two more are to be added in an area of 160,000 sq m. Three of them will be suitable for snorkellers. One of the wrecks is the Cornwallis, which was torpedoed in 1942 by a German U boat; the hull was moved from deeper water in Carlisle Bay into the shallower Marine Reserve. There are plans to sink the Bajan Queen, a party boat moored in Carlisle Bay, and an old Coast Guard boat.

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