St. Nicholas Abbey
St. Nicholas Abbey is a mansion in Saint Peter , Barbados . It is one of the last three examples of Jacobean architecture in the Western Hemisphere that have survived to this day . It resembles English Jacobean manor houses from the first half of the 17th century, the creative period between the Tudor and Georgian style , which in the reign I. Jacob began.
History and origin of name
The name St. Nicholas Abbey is unrelated to the church. The house was always the mansion of a sugar plantation . Colonel Benjamin Berringer had it built between 1650 and 1660. The exact origin of the name is unknown, but rumor has it that it was named after George Nicholas , husband of Berringer's granddaughter Susanna . Berringer died in a duel with his neighbor, Sir John Yeamans , who then married Berringer's widow and claimed the property as property. In 1669, Berringer's children took the case to court and they were granted ownership of the property. Sir John and his wife then moved to the United States and helped found the state of South Carolina . St. Nicholas Abbey later fell to the baronet, planter and legislator Sir John Gay Alleyne through his marriage to Christian Dottin . He lived in the house from 1746 until his death in 1801. It is known from the Alleynes family history that Sir John laid out the impressive mahogany avenue leading to Cherry Tree Hill . In 1834 the house fell to Charles Cave through marriage . His great-grandson Lt. Col. Stephen Cave OBE lived there from 1978 until his death in November 2003.
architecture
The manor house is well preserved. Curvilinear volute gables with large finials made of cut coral stone and corner fireplaces are typical architectural details. The entrance portico , the Chinese Chippendale style staircase and the cedar wood paneling were added later. The open chimneys and the enclosed, medieval herb garden were most likely already included in the original plans from England and were copied true to the original.
Plantation
Sugar cane has been grown on the plantation since 1640. Today you can still see the sugar mill and other buildings of the factory, which operated until 1947. Today the sugar cane is trucked to the sugar factory in Portvale . But you can watch a rare film from the 1930s in the house that shows life on a sugar plantation.
Tourism and garden
According to a list by the Barbados Tourism Authority, St. Nicholas Abbey is one of the "Seven Wonders of Barbados" and receives several thousand visitors each year. In addition to the mahogany trees , box trees , Roystonea oleracea , mangroves and avocado trees can also be found on the property .
literature
- St. Nicholas Abbey. Tour guide. 350 years of heritage preserved for future generations. , unpaginated [16 pages], with a foreword by Larry Warren, St. Peter, Barbados, [undated, 2018?]
source
- Tristram Hunt : Colonial riches in Barbados . In: The Guardian . Guardian Media Group. November 13, 2011. Retrieved February 4, 2015.