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Spanish Town was founded by Diego
Columbus in 1523 as St Jago, or Santiago, de la Vega; named after St
James, the Patron Saint of Spain.
When the British captured Jamaica
in 1670 the town was renamed Spanish Town. The existing layout of
the square was built in the mid 18th century following the original
Spanish plaza and is a perfect example of a formal Georgian square.
Spanish Town served as the capital
of Jamaica from 1534 to 1872 when the capital was moved to Kingston.
The old iron Bridge
crosses the Rio Cobre on the outskirts of Spanish Town. It was cast
in England & erected in 1801. The bridge has been closed to
vehicular traffic since 1931. It is reputed to be the oldest bridge
of it's kind in the Americas & was on the World Monument Watch's
list in 1999 of the 100 most endangered sites in the world . The
foundation of the bridge was restored in 2002 & other areas are
now being restored.
St James Cathedral was
originally built by Columbus in the 1520s as a Roman Catholic
Church. The British burnt it to the ground and rebuilt an Anglican
church in the same spot in 1665. That was destroyed by hurricane in
1712 but was rebuilt on the same foundation. There is a small iron
cross on the front door which is an 8th century artifact from
Canterbury in England. The existing building has had only minor
repairs and alterations in almost 300 years.
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The House of Assembly, on the eastern
side of the square was built in 1762 and now houses the St Catherine
Parish Council.
King's House, on the west
& built built in 1765, was destroyed by fire in 1925. Only the
facade remains.
The Court House, on the
south, was built in 1819. It was destroyed by fire in 1986.
The Rodney Memorial was built to
honour Admiral Rodney after his defeat of the French in 1872. The
building, which was originally built at a cost of 31,000
pounds was renovated in 2000-2001 for more than 10 times the
original cost to build. On the right of our masthead is the
renovated building.
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Information in this
section was gathered from "The Gleaner" newspaper &
The Jamaica National Heritage Trust. Any errors are the editor's and
not the source's. |
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