THE GARRISON
his historic three successive Gold Cup wins. The rugby club headquarters are inside the track and matches have been played there for over 50 years. The Barbados Defence Regiment uses the football pitch and the basketball court is available to all and sundry. The Garrison area offers free access to everyone and total safety from traffic inside the course, which is why runners and joggers use it extensively every evening and most mornings. The first cricket and polo games were played here in their embryonic days 150 years ago, but they have since moved to Holder’s Hill and Kensington Oval respectively. But there’s much more to the famous Garrison Savannah area than sport and why 46 • www.sportingbarbados.com
many historians want Government and kind Patrons to step forward to develop its huge tourism potential and at the same time preserve its heritage. Some positive steps have already been taken with the Barbados Museum and George Washington House already well established, but much more is possible. The Barbados Museum was formerly the Military prison and is located close to the stables. It has a great collection of historical, geographical and cultural effects and a shop with many gifts, books and refreshments. The road from the Museum to the South Coast Road (Highway 7) is lined with old army barracks and military houses all of which are now Government
buildings or residential homes. Turning left away from Bridgetown the impressive restored Pavilion and Pavilion Court Building beside the Marriott’s Hotel was once the Garrison Hospital and a few hundred yards further away at Hart’s Gap sits St Matthias Church, the Military Church for hundreds of years. Turning right on the main road heading to Bridgetown St. Ann’s Fort and Barracks is an impressive old fort still used by the Barbados Defence Regiment. In the old days the barracks stretched all the way to the coast to Charles Fort, which had dozens of heavy canons on its ramparts to protect Carlisle Bay and Bridgetown. The old Charles Fort is now part of the Barbados