St. Nicholas Abbey

Up the road from where we're staying in the hills of Barbados sits St. Nicholas Abbey,  a most interesting  plantation house dating from 1658. It is one of only three Jacobean-style buildings that remain standing in the western hemisphere. It was named for a place in England and was never an actual abbey.

Owned and managed for centuries by absent English landlords, today St. Nicholas Abbey is owned by the Warren Family of Barbados, who have managed to make it self-sustaining through public tours and the sale of rum distilled on the 400 acre plantation.

We visited a second time to attend the St. Nicholas Abbey Annual Christmas Fundraiser for the local hospital.  With rum punch in hand we sat outdoors singing carols accompanied by the Royal Barbados Police Force Band.



Old Saint Nick made an appearance to hand out candy-canes to his young fans.










The house and grounds are filled with reminders of another time of sugar production, slaves, and a bio-diversity now gone.

A Sailor's Valentine: shells are not common now in Barbados due to the collapse of the reef eco-systems

Slave records at the time of emancipation showing their value in pounds

Large gears used in the production of sugar

Standing beneath a 200 year old mahogany tree