Half-Island Tour of St Kitts

The Berkeley Memorial was erected in 1883 and was for a long time the only public memorial commemorating an individual in St. Kitts. It was dedicated to the memory of Thomas Berkeley Hardtman Berkeley, a legislator and owner of the estates called Fountain, Greenland, Greenhill, Ottleys, Shadwell and Stone Fort.

CO-CATHEDRAL OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION is an ornate church constructed out of grey stone and located on the eastern side of Independence Square. In the early years of the French occupation of St. Kitts, the Jesuits had build a Roman Catholic Church and dedicated it to Our Lady. Notre Dame was burned in 1706 during the Anglo-French war and rebuilt later as St. Georges Anglican Church. The catholic congregation in St. Kitts diminished drastically in the years following the Treaty of Utrecht.

INDEPENDENCE SQUARE formerly Pall Mall Square, was renamed on the 19th September 1983 to commemorate the birth of the new nation of St. Christopher and Nevis. It is located on the eastern side of Basseterre bordering on Newtown. Its layout was designed to look like a Union Jack and the streets and houses surrounding it once dated to the mid-eighteenth century. Unfortunately, time and environmental damage have destroyed many of them. Some like the Court House and Public Library have been destroyed by fire and have been rebuilt.

ST. GEORGE’S ANGLICAN CHURCH is the largest church in Basseterre. It stands at the head of Church Street and resembles an English parish church in style. The outer walls are of heavy andesite rock and the roof is covered in slate. Like many of the buildings in Basseterre this church has had its ups and downs, often rising from ashes like the mythical Phoenix.

In 1635, at the request of the directors of the Company of the Isles of America, the Provincial of the Capuchin Friars of Normandy assigned three men, Fathers Jerome, Marc and Pacifique de Provins to care for the spiritual needs of the French colonists on St. Kitts and to attempt the conversion of the small Kalinago population that remained on the island after the massacre of 1627. In Basseterre they erected a place of worship which Rochefort describes as a fair Church able to contain a very great Congregation: The Structure is of wood, rais'd on a foundation of Free-stone: Instead of Glass-windows there are only turned Pillars, after the fashion of a Balcony. It is cover'd with red Slate. The Friars also had churches in Cayon and Capisterre but in 1646, Governor De Poincy felt that they were taking sides against him and ordered them to leave the colony. He replaced them with the Jesuits. In 1672 they built a church which they called Notre Dame.

THE WAR MEMORIAL was originally unveiled in 1926 at the place now occupied by the Post Office. It honoured the men who died in the First World War.

In January of 1926 Administrator St. Johnston wrote to the Crown Agents asking for a copy of a book showing War Memorials in English villages as a guide towards decision making. He was sent a publication called Portfolio of War Memorials. There was some concern about the cost of the memorial being at the public expense at such a late time.

Bloody Point is situated to the west of Challengers Village. It gets its name from the Massacre of the Kalinago that took place in the vicinity.

Set in approximately 8 acres, these grounds have considerable history dating back to the 1600s. Prior to the island's European conquest, which began in 1623, there is strong evidence that Carib Indian Chief Tegreman’s village occupied the site. Petroglyphs located on the Wingfield Estate attest to the presence of Amerindians at some point during the property's history.

Romney Manor & Wingfield Estate have had only 5 family owners to-date. You might recognize the first, Sam Jeffreson II, the great, great, great grandfather of Thomas Jefferson (3rd president of the U.S.A), who purchased the property in 1625.

The modest house, once named the "red house" to reflect Jeffreson's Quaker roots, was renamed Romney Manor upon its mid 17th-century acquisition by the Earl of Romney. In 1834, contrary to the instruction of the British Parliament, Lord Romney declared his enslaved Africans free men, becoming the first estate in St. Kitts to do so.

Wingfield Estate is adjacent to Wingfield River in a lush rainforest located in Old Road Town, St. Kitts. The estate is set in the picturesque foothills of the island’s central mountain range, with elevations over 3000 ft. One of the unique aspects of this area is the Wingfield watershed. This is a natural resource that covers hundreds of acres, depositing water into Wingfield River. The watershed provides the island with more than ¾ of the island's water requirement.

Wingfield Estate is one of four places on St. Kitts that has 17th century Amerindian petroglyphs (a carving or inscription on a rock). The petroglyphs of Wingfield Estate are considered to be amongst one of the finest examples of rock carvings in the Lesser Antilles, and on St. Kitts they are one of the most accessible. Local folklore states that Carib Chief Tegreman, a powerful Amerindian chief who ruled several islands, had his village within the grounds of Romney Manor.

Timothy Hill is a popular lookout spot located a short distance from Frigate Beach, Timothy Hill provides a view of the sparkling Atlantic Ocean where it meets the Caribbean Sea. Within the two bodies of water you’ll see lush, green foliage and the gently sloping hills of the southeast peninsula of St Kitts from your vantage point above. You’ll even be able to see the neighboring island of Nevis in the distance.