St. George is located in the middle of Barbados and commands stunning views overlooking both the south and west coasts.
This parish is made up of many sugar cane fields, which slope gently down towards the sea. There is only St. George and St. Thomas that don’t have a coast line, but despite there being no beaches in this parish there are a number of attractions to lure you to this part of the country.
There is Drax Hall, which was built in the 1650’s and is the oldest remaining Jacobean property in the western hemisphere. There are only three in the region and Barbados is lucky enough to be home another Jacobean property and that is St. Nicholas Abbey in St. Peter.
If you are interested in looking around country houses then Francia Plantation House is also worth a visit. It is open to the public from 9am until 4pm from Monday until Friday. The house is renowned for it’s collection of maps including one that is dated 1522.
There are also some old Anglican churches to visit such as St. George’s Parish Church, St. Lukes and St. Augustine’s. St. George’s parish Church was originally built in the 1630’s but was destroyed by the great hurricane of 1780; the current building was erected in 1784 now making it one of the oldest buildings in Barbados.
Another spot of historical interest is Gun Hill Signal Station, which was built in 1818 after the slave revolt of 1816; it is one of six signal stations that were erected on the island to alert the military of any uprising on the island.
This is one of the grander signal stations and makes an excellent place to take photographs as you can see for miles across the island from here. There is also a 10ft high white lion, which was carved by an officer stationed there in 1868.
Just to the north of Gun Hill you will find Orchid World, home to over 20,000 orchids, which also makes a very pleasant place to stroll around while you are in that part of the country. It is open daily from 9am until 5pm.
Places of interest in St. George:
— Drax Hall
— Francia Plantation House
— St. George’s Parish Church
— St. Luke’s Church
— St. Augustine’s Church
— Gun Hill Signal Station
— Orchid World
Author: Brett Callaghan
