Historic Places in Barbados

The Constitution River/ The Careenage

This flows through the capital Bridgetown, the river channels rain from higher inland areas through the Careenage into the Carlisle Bay where it connects.  This marina is so named because smaller vessels careened there for repairs while larger ships used the deep water harbor.

For 300 years had been the centre of communication and trade for the island, in recent times the modern Bridgetown Harbour overshadowed it and now it is mainly for sleek yachts, catamarans and other pleasure craft to berth. 

Two bridges separate the outer and inner basins; The Charles Duncan O'Neal Bridge which extends from Bridge Street/Wharf Road to Fairchild Street/Independence Square and the Chamberlain Bridge which extends from Wharf Road/Heroes Square to Independence Square/Bay Street.  Running along the careenage/constitution river is the decorative Bridgetown Boardwalk, overlooked by restaurants, bars and old converted warehouses.

Codrington College

Located on the perfect hill-top overlooking the splendid Atlantic, Codrington College boasts breathtaking views of the East Coast of Barbados. The serene surroundings include a driveway lined with cabbage palm trees and a beautiful lily pond; it is the oldest Anglican theological college in the Western Hemisphere and a most important feature of the historical, architectural, natural and educational legacy of Barbados.

The mansion house dates back to the mid seventeenth century, but the college buildings were completed in 1743 and opened in 1745 as a grammar school. In 1830 the college became a university level institution.

Dolphin Fountain

The tri-dolphin fountain was established in 1865 in honor of the first piped water in the city in 1861, it was known as the Fountain or Dolphin Garden. The garden itself and the enclosure came slightly later, the earliest work beginning in 1882.

Farley Hill National Park

The site where a superlative 19th century great house once stood is now the Farley Hill National Park.  Farley Hill Great House was considered the island's most stately mansion in its day, the beautiful mansion built in 1818 by Sir Graham Briggs for the entertainment of his guest Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, when the latter visited Barbados in 1861. Other Royal visitors including Princes Albert, Victor and George, later King George V of England, were entertained there when they visited the island in 1879. The building's walls are coral stone and still standing in spite of several fires and hurricanes that ravished the house.

In 1956, because of its quaint setting, the mansion was the scene of several sequences in the movie, "Island in the Sun", starring Harry Belafonte, but soon after it was destroyed by fire.  The Government of Barbados bought the property in 1965 and it was officially opened as The Farley Hill National Park by H.M. Queen Elizabeth 11 the following year, it is located in St. Peter.

The ruins of the mansion still stand.