The Ins & Outs of Barbados 2022

70 Sightseeing Did You Know? Historic Bridgetown & its Garrison Did you know that Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison is a UNESCO World Heritage site, deserving preservation for outstanding universal value? Its inscription ten years ago was announced on June 25th, 2011. At a function in 2003, to celebrate the 375th Anniversary of Bridgetown’s settlement in 1628, Dame Billie Miller proposed that Bridgetown should be nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. I proposed it should include the Garrison, as this was a uniquely grand example of a British garrison. The essence of our case was that our site is an outstanding example of a well-preserved British garrison, linked to the city's historic 17th, 18th and 19th century urban core. The early town had no plan, but a medieval, serpentine lay-out, unlike the grid plan of Spanish and Dutch colonial cities, or Kingston in Jamaica. There are splendid examples of British colonial architecture in the Garrison buildings, and of what’s known as Caribbean Georgian architecture in the religious, civic and domestic buildings in the old city core, from St. Mary’s Church in the west to Queen’s Park House in the east, and such gems as the Cathedral, Parliament buildings and Carnegie Library. The Garrison has almost 100 structures, including the fortified “castle”, St. Ann’s Fort. It’s the most complete colonial garrison surviving, built for 2,500 troops. It’s one of the Ten Cities that “made” the British Empire, according to distinguished historian Professor Tristram Hunt. An exc rpt from "Did You Know, People Places &Untold Stories" by Sir Henry Fraser.