Places to Visit in St. Kitts

OLD ROAD AND ROMNEY ESTATE

Old Road was the very first British town in the entire Caribbean. Sir Thomas Warner landed at Old Road Bay on 28th January 1623 with fifteen settlers. The Carib Chieftain, Tegreman, met him. The Indians had their villages and ritual grounds in this area.
Unfortunately, the only indications of their existence in that area are the stone petroglyphs that can be seen on the left hand side of the road to Romney Manor.

A childhood friend of Sir Thomas Warner, Samuel Jefferson, a grandfather of the American statesman, and buried in the same graveyard as Sir Thomas at Middle Island, was given a thousand acre land grant for a property named Wingfield Estate. This was the only
estate to use a water wheel for power and the remnants of the brick aqueduct still stand some distance up the road.

The Romney Family later leased this land and today it is home of the Caribelle Batik and The Botanical Gardens of Romney Manor. Artisans at the batik factory provide live demonstrations of the complicated process of turning soft Sea Island cotton into colourful batiks. The beautifully restored gardens surrounding the 17th Century sugar estate feature a magnificent old Saman tree. It requires a wide-angle lens to photograph.

A drive up the twisty narrow road beyond Wingfield leads to the former military road that allows you an incredible view looking down on Brimstone Hill.

You will pass through St. Thomas, Middle Island where the first Anglican Church in the British Caribbean still stands, as well as the tombs of Sir Thomas Warner and Samuel
Jefferson.


BRIMSTONE HILL FORTRESS NATIONAL PARK

Perhaps the most well known attraction on St. Kitts is Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park. Designated a World Heritage site by UNESCO in October 2000. Built over a period of 104 years beginning in 1690, British authorities consider the fortress to be one of the
finest examples of British military architecture in the world. (See a related story in this issue.)


DIEPPE BAY TOWN

Your tour continues around through Sandy Point, the second largest town on the Island. You might wish to stop and see the architectural beauty of St. Anne’s Anglican Church on your left, and further into town, Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church.

Heading out of town and through the countryside, you’ll get lovely views of the Dutch islands, St. Eustatius and Saba and on to Dieppe Bay Town located at the northwest corner of the island. You will come to a turnoff for Rawlins Plantation Inn located at the top of an unpaved cane road and well worth a visit. When you get to Dieppe Bay town, which was the Protestant French commercial capital in the late 16th century, you will have travelled halfway around the island. Take a left at the sign for the Golden Lemon and drive to the end of the road. The view of the surf rolling in on the protective reef at this point is truly
remarkable. Taxi drivers like to tell visitors that this is where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Caribbean Sea. The Golden Lemon Inn itself dates from 1610 and was built by the Huguenots, and is the oldest occupied residence on the Island. There’s a small safe beach
and good snorkelling on the reef if you care to stop for a while.


BLACK ROCKS AND MT. LIAMUIGA

As you’ve been going around this part of the country you’ve had the opportunity to view different aspects of majestic Mount Liamuiga (3,792ft), the highest point in the Lesser Antilles chain. You may want to explore its rainforests or to climb to the crater, just make sure you have a guide. Just after Saddlers village you will come to St. John’s Anglican Church in Bellevue Village where you will also find the natural wonder of Black Rocks. These volcanic formations resulted from the pyroclastic flows of lava when Mount Liamuiga (formerly known as Mt. Misery) erupted centuries ago. The volcano has been dormant for centuries, too.

Continuing around the island you will eventually take a sharp right and drive up a long hill. At the top you will take a left, there’s a big church on your right, and come round a
corner to another spectacular view into the hills. A dip and a rise brings you to Ottley’s
Village and Ottley’s Plantation Inn, a hillside hostelry boasting its own exotic rain forest.
Take a look.

Our tour’s almost over. You’re heading back to Basseterre and will drive through the Island’s third largest town, Cayon, just beyond it is turn-off to Spooners’ on your right. Here
you’ll find the ruins of a cotton ginnery, the machinery still in place.

From here it’s a drive back to the airport and town. We hope you enjoyed your welcome to our world.

By the way, if driving and touring by taxi isn’t your thing, take a ride on the St. Kitts Scenic Railway. The doubledecker, air-conditioned trains run on the old narrow gauge
sugar train tracks. You’ll see the island from an entirely different perspective as you journey round. Talk about a photo op! There is music, entertainment, samples of local food treats, and an expert narration – often given by yours truly. Welcome aboard!

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