Category: Parishes in St. Kitts and Nevis

Saint George Gingerland, Nevis

Population: 2,496

Capital: Market Shop
Cities:

• Chicken Stone
• Taylors Pasture
• Wetlands
• Hull Ground
• Rawlins Village
• Crook’s Ground
• Rice
• Buck’s Hill
• Sheriffs
• Holmes Hill
• Fenton Hill
• Stony Hill
• Webb’s Ground
• Harris
• Zion
• New River

Saint George Gingerland, also known as St. George’s Gingerland, is a parish in the southeastern part of the island of Nevis, Leeward Islands, West Indies. It is one of five parishes on the island, and has a total population of about 2,500. The five parishes, in combination with the nine parishes of St. Kitts, make up the fourteen administrative parishes of the two-island Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

SAINT GEORGE

The parish is commonly referred to as Gingerland and is named after the valuable ginger crop that used to be grown there. The Anglican parish church of Saint George is located within the main village of Market Shop, and Gingerland also encompasses numerous other villages such as Chicken Stone, Zetlands, and Zion. Gingerland is one of the most populous parishes on Nevis, primarily because the higher parts of the parish have fertile soil and good rainfall. The parish is on the windward side of the island (meaning that it faces the trade winds). Many of the villages in Gingerland are situated at an altitude of nearly 1,000 feet (over 300 meters), making them considerably cooler than coastal villages (especially at night).

Gingerland supplies most of Nevis with fresh fruits and vegetables. The farms are mostly smallholdings, where crops are grown for private consumption and for sale. The livestock includes sheep and goats, which wander and graze freely; and pigs, cows, and horses, which are either fenced or tethered. Feral donkeys roam freely. On the coast around Indian Castle, fishing is important economically.

Tourism is an important industry in Gingerland. The main buildings of hotels such as Old Manor (now closed) and Golden Rock Estate were originally sugarcane plantation “great houses“, and some of the other plantation buildings, including the old windmills, have been turned into guest suites or dining areas. A third plantation hotel in the parish is Montpelier Plantation, which is situated not far from the Botanic Garden. The island’s racetrack is located in the area near Red Cliff, and the well-attended Nevis horse races take place at approximately monthly intervals.

Saint John Figtree is one of five administrative parishes which make up the small Caribbean island of Nevis. These five parishes are part of the fourteen parishes that exist within the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, a two-island country in the Leeward Islands, Lesser Antilles, West Indies.

Description

The parish capital of Saint John Figtree is the settlement known as Church Ground. The parish church, Fig Tree Church, is notable for being the location where the registration of the marriage between young Nevisian plantation family widow Frances Nisbet and Horatio Nelson was carried out, in 1787, when Nelson was still a young sea captain.

The village of Bath is at the northwestern end of this parish, just south of Charlestown. Nearby is the Bath Hotel, which is now government offices, but which was originally (in 1778) the first tourist hotel and spa in the West Indies. Also nearby is Government House.

Stoney Grove Estate, a former plantation, is located here.

This parish is unique in St Kitts and St Nevis in that it is the only parish that does not allow women to serve on its parish council.

Other villages within the parish are: Brown Hill, Prospect, Pembroke, Fig Tree, Brown Pasture, Cole Hill, Beach Road, and Pond Hill. The Nevis Botanical Garden is more or less centrally located in the parish, as is the hotel, Montpelier Plantation Inn.

In the southernmost part of the parish is the Nevis deep-water port. Most of the coastline of this parish consists of small cliffs and coves with small beaches, many of which are not easily accessible from the land.

References

1. ^ “2011 Census”. Department of Statistics, St. Kitts and Nevis.
2. ^ “Stony Grove Estate”. geoview.info. geoview.info. Retrieved 22 July 2016.

• ORDNANCE SURVEY, GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM, 1984, Nevis, with part of St. Christopher (Saint Kitts). Series E803 (D.O.S. 343), Sheet NEVIS, Edition 5 O.S.D. 1984. Reprinted in 1995, published by the Government of the United Kingdom (Ordnance Survey) for the Government of Saint Christopher (St. Kitts) and Nevis.
• ROBINSON, DAVID & JENNIFER LOWERY (Editors), 2000. The natural history of the island of Nevis. Nevis Historical and Conservation Society Press, Ithaca, New York.
• HUBBARD, VINCENT K., 2002. Swords, ships, and sugar: a history of Nevis, Premiere Editions, Corvallis, Oregon. 5th Edition.

Saint Thomas Lowland is one of 5 Nevis parishes which are in turn part of the 14 administrative parishes that make up the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Leeward Islands, Lesser Antilles, West Indies.

The coast of this parish consists primarily of sand beaches, most notably the 3-mile long Pinney’s Beach. Behind the sandy coastline are several small lagoons, including the freshwater lagoon of Nelson‘s Spring, which is next to the village of Cotton Ground. Some of the island’s most important hotel developments are located in this area, including the Four Seasons Resort Nevis.

The small but steep hill at Cades Point is a weathered remnant of an ancient volcanic core. Further inland, many small villages, and homes are located on the gently sloping landscape which gradually rises up towards Nevis Peak. Further inland as the elevation increases, the vegetation becomes lusher because of higher rainfall on the steeper slopes of Nevis Peak. The summit of the Peak is the Parish’s interior land boundary.

Settlements

The parish capital settlement is Cotton Ground. Other villages within the parish are Westbury, Barnes Ghaut and Jessups. There is also a small section of Craddock Road that is part of the parish, even though most of the Craddock Road community is in St. Paul’s Parish.

Capital – Cotton Ground

Other Villages:

• Barnes Ghaut
• Jessups
• Stuarts
• Westbury

The southern end of the parish embraces the northern fringe of Charlestown, the capital of Nevis, including the Community Center (which was previously the cinema), the ruins of the Rest Haven Hotel (heavily damaged by Hurricane Hugo in 1989), and Pinney’s Beach Hotel at the southern end of Pinney’s Beach.

Economy

Saint Thomas Lowland parish can arguably be viewed as the heart of the Nevis economy. This is because the island’s main economic sector is tourism, and this parish is home to the island’s largest hotel, the Four Seasons Resort, which is the largest single employer on the island, second only to the Government. The Four Seasons golf course is considered to be one of the best in the Caribbean. Several other hotel developments are also located on the coast of this parish.

History

Saint Thomas was the first established Parish on Nevis, and was home to the first British settlement, Jamestown. Legend has it that Jamestown was lost in a tidal wave in the late 1680s, but there is no archeological evidence that would support that story. In any case the first settlement was abandoned, but St. Thomas’ Church, on higher ground, remains.

Future developments

The parish of Saint Thomas Lowland is the premier development area in Nevis at present, with a large hotel and golf course construction in progress, the most expensive such development in the Federation.

Tourist attractions

• Museum of Nevis History

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