Visit A Site - Barbados National Trust

Visit a National Trust Site

Welcome to the beautiful and must see sites of the Barbados National Trust. Here you will find some of our Heritage Sites with photographs and site descriptions, along with detailed information on their respective opening hours and admission.

The Oldest Barbadian Garden and the Largest Garden in Barbados

Andromeda Gardens

Andromeda Botanic Gardens is located on the Atlantic coast of Barbados near to Tent bay at Bathsheba.

The gardens sit on the boundary of the parishes of St. John and St. Joseph about 300 yards from the Atlantic Ocean.

The East Coast of Barbados is breathtakingly beautiful and is the perfect setting for Botanic Gardens like those at Andromeda.

Come and visit this unique garden. Walk through the winding pathways as you journey through this horticultural delight. Be amazed at the variety of unique trees, some of which are not found anywhere else in the Caribbean. Have a look at the wonderful palm collection; marvel at some of the succulent plants; be mesmerized by wonderful perfumes; and watch the hummingbirds as they feed on the Heliconias. Relax by the main pond and enjoy the spirit of this wonderful space. Welcome to Andromeda Botanic Gardens, Barbados!

The Caribbean's largest and only working windmill

Morgan Lewis Sugar Mill

The largest and only complete sugar windmill surviving in the Caribbean. The wind-driven machinery that ground the sugarcane in the 18th and 19th centuries is still intact. The mill includes an exhibit of the equipment used to produce sugar at the time when the industry was run by wind-power generated from mills such as this one. The rubble walls are comprised of boulders held together with a mixture of egg-white and coral dust (there was no cement when this plantation house was built!)

Morgan Lewis stands on approximately 3, 000 square feet of gently sloping land, approximately one half of the way between the top of Cherry Tree Hill to the west and Shorey Village to the east.

A trip through Barbadian History

Arlington House Museum

Located in the northern town of Speightstown, Arlington House Museum offers a unique opportunity to experience life in a bygone era!

Housed in a restored eighteenth century building, Arlington House is an interactive three-story museum that is both educational and engaging. Children in particular will love the interactive and audio visual features of the museum and the whole family will enjoy learning about Barbados’ heritage.

The house was owned by generations of the Skinner family who were prominent Traders in Speightstown. Architecturally, it is simple in design and was used as the model for other merchant homes in 18 Century, Speightstown.
The house has been restored by the Barbados National Trust but only after it was saved from literally crumbling to the ground. Arlington House is home to one of the better interpretative museums in the English speaking Caribbean. There are three floors of exhibits which, together, tell the story of Barbados, Speightstown, sugar and life on the island between the 18th and 20th Centuries.

One of the last lookout points

Gun Hill Signal Station

Gun Hill Signal Station was built in 1818. Two years after Barbados’ only slave revolt and it was the finest of a chain of stations used to signal the approach of enemy ships and the safe arrival of cargo ships and to help in the internal security of the island.

The station is strategically placed on the highland of St. George and commands a magnificent view from East through South to the West – a perfect location! This signal station was restored by the Trust in 1982 and opened to the public. The rooms at the back of the signal tower are filled with an interesting collection of memorabilia from the military.

Gun hill is one of a series of six signal stations which were built and used as rallying points in the event of civil disorder and also for non-military purposes.

An Enchanting Historic Village

Tyrol Cot Village

Once the home of Sir Grantley Adams, this beautifully restored 1854 mansion is the centerpiece of an authentic “chattel house” village that features local arts, crafts, food and drink.

The home is also the birthplace of his son, Tom, the second Prime Minister of Barbados. The house itself was constructed in 1854 and is an architectural gem with an interesting mixture of Palladian and tropical vernacular and is filled with the Adams’ antique furniture and memorabilia.

The oldest Synagogue in the Western Hemisphere

Bridgetown Synagogue Historic District

On the 15^th day of May 1997, His Excellency the Governor General approved the vested ownership of the lands and hereditaments of the Jewish Synagogue in the Barbados National Trust. The provision being that the above could only be sold back to Government. This provided the proverbial icing on the cake’ for the Barbados National Trust, having won the battle for preservation of this significant landmark.

The Synagogue building is arguably the earliest consecrated temple in the Western Hemisphere. It is located in Historic Bridgetown which has recently gained inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage Site!

By agreement with the Trust, the Jewish Community is responsible for the upkeep and administration of the site which includes the temple, the cemetery and more recently the interpretive and interactive museum. The fully restored Synagogue was internationally recognized with an American Express Preservation Award in 1991. Restoration work continued on the cemetery where the gravestones have been raised, cleaned and the original inscriptions. Restoration of an old warehouse was completed to house the Museum which was opened in 2008. The museum traces the role played by the Barbados Jews in society; the role played in the development of the sugar industry and in commerce and commemorates and celebrates our Jewish Heritage.

In late 2008 an archaeological dig uncovered what was celebrated as an internationally significant find – an original Mikvah, fully intact. The entire site is opened to the public.

Get lost in another world

Welchman Hall Gully

Welchman Hall Tropical Forest Reserve, more commonly referred to as the Welchman Hall Gully is located in St. Thomas, one of the hilliest parishes in Barbados. In fact, it is in the same region as Mount Hillaby, the highest point in Barbados at approximately 1100 feet above sea level. The gully is approximately 800 feet above sea level and commands a spectacular view of the neighboring St. Andrew’s parish and the Scotland District.

Welchman Hall was the first property purchased and which became wholly owned by the Trust. Purchase of this in 1992 was spearheaded by Mr. Ronald Tree, the Founder of the Barbados National Trust who recognized the importance of the environmental aspect of our mandate as well as the importance of the native plants which inhabit the Gully.

The Barbados National Trust developed this site into a major tourist attraction as a place to be visited during tours across Barbados.

The Gully is rich in natural vegetation. A number of areas have been left in their natural state and are used to illustrate how Barbados must have appeared to the early settlers.

In other areas of the Gully can be found flora not necessarily native to Barbados but that cannot be found in other areas of Barbados. In particular, there are clove, nutmeg, cocoa, coffee, citrus, avocado and other tropical fruit trees and a magnificent Bamboo grove.

Apart from the plant and animal life – the green monkeys have a feeding station in the Gully – visitors are exposed to aspects of Barbados geologic history as a coral island and with the Gully’s connection with Harrison’s Cave next door. Huge stalactites and stalagmites are testimony to the Gully’s origin as part of an enormous cave system. In fact, the gully is often described as a cave whose roof has fallen in.

Barbados National Trust Head Office

Wildey Great House

The National Trust headquarters is now Wildey House, a beautiful old Georgian-style mansion set on beautiful grounds. It houses a fine collection of antique furniture, bequeathed to us along with the house, by the Leacock family.

Located in the parish of St. Michael on the south coast of Barbados, the house contains a lot of it’s original Mahogany furniture, as well as antique china, glassware, and photographs of the old world Barbados.

The Barbados National Trust also hires out this venue for private functions including private dinner parties in the original dining room complete with original dining table and are happy to host weddings here too!

↑