The splendid medieval buildings of old Bridgetown and Speightstown, the Jacobean mansions of St. Nicholas Abbey and Drax Hall; the plethora of handsome coral stone buildings in Caribbean Georgian style, such as Sunbury Great House; the 75 magnificent historic churches, the Victorian villas in what we call local or vernacular style, scattered across the old suburbs and emulated in the millionaire’s mansions of the West Coast; the ancient windmills and lighthouses, and the most famous of all, perhaps, the iconic “chattel house” – a unique, celebrated star of Caribbean folk architecture; these are all the work of local craftsmen of extraordinary skill – stone masons and sculptors, joiners or carpenters, glazers and tilers, architects and contractors. The legendary builder William Farnum, who designed and built Tyrol Cot (1854) home of Sir Grantley Adams and Glendairy Prison (1855) is little remembered today, but his achievements were remarkable. And the masons and carpenters who did the work were no less skilled. They too deserve to be celebrated. In other words we must guard our heritage and preserve both the beautiful buildings and their builders, if we truly take pride in these achievements of our ancestors. But the concept of pleasure from our built heritage is key. We have some 20 splendid museums – from the oldest, the Barbados Museum at the historic Garrison (an
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old Military Prison of 1815) to the magnificent Mallallieu Motor Museum, the Nidhe Israel Museum, the Cricket Legends Museum, the Concorde Museum, and the state-of-the-art, interactive Arlington House Museum in Speightstown. Historic buildings all over the world are adapted for modern use and enjoyment. A proposal on the table for Barbados’ anniversary year is the development of the massive, abandoned Glendairy Prison into a multi-faceted Entertainment Centre and Prison Museum. Prison museums are a roaring success wherever they’ve been created across the world, from Britain to Australia, and are profit centres, as only a portion needs to be restored. They are usually the top attraction wherever they are. For example, Kilmainam Jail in Dublin, Ireland, has 1000 visitors a day or 350,000 a year! And Glendairy Prison is on a 14 acre site, with five major buildings and space for indoor and outdoor theatres, arts and crafts, children’s playgrounds, workshops, petting farm, et cetera, et cetera. Pleasure for ever! Profit of course is also key, both for local enjoyment and for visitors. Research shows that restoration of our well-built coral stone buildings almost always costs much less than equivalent new buildings – hence major savings. Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on June 25th, 2011. The jewel