Rose Hall Great House
December 24, 2009 by editor · Leave a Comment
Perhaps one of the most famous great houses in Jamaica is Rose Hall, in the parish of St James and around 15 minutes from Montego Bay airport. The reason for it’s infamy is due to one of the occupants Annie Palmer, known also as the White Witch of Rose Hall. She is reputed to have murdered three husbands and had them buried on the beach a short distance from the great house itself.
The house was bought in 1965 and renovated in the 1970′s by an American couple Michele and John Rollins. It now operates as a tourist attraction with the rennovated great house containing reproduction furniture, fixtures and fittings. There are two original pieces in the property. A bell pull, and Annie Palmers chaise lounge.
From the perspective of this project, the most interesting area of the house remains outside and in the underground dungeon area, in which are located the gift shop, toilets and a pub. This area features the original coral cobbles and is the area in which slaves were brought down for punishment, receiving no food or water and left to rot and die. During this month long visit, I visited Rose Hall once and took the tour which takes you all around the house.
The time of day was not ideal for photography and I felt that more time was required to photograph on the site, even from an exploratory perspective so for now I will only post a few photos from Rose Hall.
Seville Great House
December 16, 2009 by editor · 2 Comments
When the English captured Jamaica in 1655 from the Spanish areas of the country were divided up amongst the captains and generals of the conquering armies. One such was the Seville Estate that was awarded to a Captain Hemmings. Prior to the Spanish, Taino peoples from South America had settlements on the area now known as Seville. The Spaniards imported Africans as slaves to work the sugar and later Copra there and the English continued this activity.
The Seville Great house was built by Hemmings grandson towards the end of the 17th century. Originally a two storey house, the top floor was blown off during a hurricane in the 19th century. The upper floor was never restored so the house as it was then remains today. Operated as a heritage park where visitors can learn about the various known inhabitants of the area, the once 3000 acre Seville estate which extended form Clayground to the sea has been divided up and what remains known as Seville Estate is now merely 300 acres, divided by the main coastal highway that runs on the northern side ot the island from Montego Bay in the west to Port Antonio in the east.
The last owners of the estate prior to it being taken over by the Government were the Hoskins family. Their family burial site can be seen here. The last remaining spot is empty as the youngest sister did not die on the island and is buried elsewhere.
At Seville Heritage Park, you can take a tour of the great house and the grounds and learn something about the past inhabitants of the area, from the Taino, through to the English. Several archaeological digs have been carried out there, revealing artifacts from the past, which demonstrated how the inhabitants lived.
There are also reconstructions of a Taino village and African house on the site as well as the ruins of some of the plantation workers most notably the overseers house and the intact structures of the copra kiln and chimney.
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