Square break from colonialism reflects

By Gercine Carter

The imposing National Heroes Square in the heart of Bridgetown is indicative of how Barbados is continuing to break colonial ties and advance as an independent country and a republic.

It is a key landmark replete with history and a symbol of Barbados’ evolving identity from colonial heritage to indendence and now a republic seeking to update its built city heritage.

National Heroes Square was originally Trafalgar Square,

which featured a statue of the British Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, erected in 1813 to commemorate Nelson’s naval victories.

Nelson

The 12-ft bronze statue sculpted by British artist Sir Richard Westmacott depicted Nelson, who visited Barbados with the British fleet en route to Trafalgar aboard his flagship HMS Victory, in June 1805.

Nelson’s victory and subsequent death during the Battle of Trafalgar made him a national hero of the UK. His Barbados statue pre-dated Nelson’s Column, erected in London’s Trafalgar Square, by 30 years.

The statue was moved to the Barbados Museum and Historical Society on November 16, 2020 after protracted calls for its removal.

In its place is The Family Monument,

erected as a symbol of the Barbadian family. It honours the family unit as the foundation of the nation and the source of its heroes. Designed by Vincent Jones and Hugh Holder, the structure features ancestral families breaking shackles, symbolising resilience, alongside 11 steles commemorating Barbados’ National Heroes and bears the inscription “Inspired, Exulting, Free,” words from the National Anthem, on both ends of the structure.

Parliament passed the Trafalgar Square (Change of Name) Act, which saw the name Trafalgar Square officially changed to Heroes Square, symbolising a post-colonial recognition of Barbadian heroes such as Bussa, the enslaved leader of the 1816 slave rebellion; Premier Sir Grantley Adams, the island’s first Premier; father of Independence and first Prime Minister Errol Walton Barrow, and cricketing great Sir Garfield Sobers, one of only two National Heroes alive today.

Gone is Nelson’s statue, but also the guard post at the top of Broad Street where officers from the former Royal Barbados Police Force stood guard directing vehicular traffic which once travelled on Broad Street in both directions.

The Family Monument faces the Cenotaph and the Dolphin Fountain, the first a relic of the colonial past and a symbol of a future in which wars will continue to be fought and fallen soldiers will forever be remembered; the latter a reminder of when water was first piped into Bridgetown in 1861.

The Cenotaph

The Cenotaph War Memorial was erected in 1925 and stands as a national gesture of remembrance for Barbadians who gave their lives in the two World Wars.

They are landmark features in the heart of a city centre where the Parliament Buildings occupy a commanding position.

Barbados has a continuous parliamentary tradition dating back to 1639, placing the island alongside England and Bermuda as one of the earliest adopters of Westminster-style democratic governance in the British colonial system. The current Parliament Buildings, constructed in the 1870s following a devastating fire, continue to serve as an active centre of governance through the House of Assembly and the Senate, where matters of national importance are debated and legislation passed.

The Parliament Buildings have served as the meeting place for both chambers of Parliament since June 16, 1874, and were formerly the site of the Colonial administration of Barbados. They are bordered by Upper Broad Street and National Heroes Square to the south; strategically at the heart of the capital city Bridgetown.

According to historical records, before the establishment of the Public Buildings, the Barbados legislature met at the Town Hall building (beside the now abandoned National Library Service of Barbados building) on Coleridge Street. In 1989, the Public Buildings were officially renamed the Parliament Buildings by Act of Parliament and in 2011, both buildings were

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The Dolphin Fountain near Heroes Square, commemorating the introduction of piped water to Bridgetown.

The Family Monument, which replaced Nelson’s Statue in Heroes Square. (Pictures by Jameel Springer.)

From Page 22A.

designated as UNESCO protected properties within the World Heritage Site of Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison area.

There was a need to find a safe place to store the island’s public records, which, before the construction of the Parliament Buildings, were stored in various Government offices located around Bridgetown.

Secondly, the island’s legislature needed an appropriate place to convene. From the establishment of the House of Assembly in 1639 to the erection of the Parliament Buildings, the legislature shifted from building to building around Bridgetown, and at several instances it actually met at taverns and alehouses. This, of course, was frowned upon by many of the island’s previous Governors, several of whom proposed that money be voted for the erection of an appropriate building to house Parliament.

Several plans

Several plans were made for the erection of a building for Parliament. In 1701, a house was constructed within James Fort on Hincks Street but it was later used as the island’s Common Gaol [jail].

In the 1960s, the island’s main post office was housed on the ground floor of the East Wing of Parliament. In February 2020, the Government rented various private buildings around Barbados, including the Worthing Corporate Centre as the East Wing underwent renovation and repair.

The Parliament Buildings afford a vista of the Inner Basin of the Careenage. The Chamberlain Bridge, once a swing bridge with flowing traffic, from which young men once dived for coins thrown into the water, is now a lift bridge with pedestrians only.

Independence Square,

once occupied by a central city car park sitting across from a streetscape in which international store brands such as United Colours of Benetton and the headquarter offices of international airline BOAC (now British Airways) and the defunct BWIA, stood out.

Broad Street, once the City’s main commercial artery, has seen a steady decline as once vibrant businesses either closed or relocated from the city centre. Today, many buildings stand unoccupied and the calls continue for a rejuvenation of the street.

From the days when the City’s main thoroughfare bustled as a vibrant commercial hub, drawing shoppers with its array of duty-free stores, high-end jewellery boutiques and major department stores such as Cave Shepherd & Company, Harrison’s and Fogarty’s, Broad Street hardly teems with shoppers as it did back then, except for holiday periods and during the tourism cruise season.

An older generation remembers when the street ran east to west from Nelson Statue all the way to Jubilee Gardens (opposite St Mary’s Anglican Church); when traffic flowed uninterrupted from Cheapside all the way along Broad Street.

Subsequent redesign and expansion of Jubilee Gardens resulted in traffic redirection, robbing the Jubilee Gardens, established as a public park in 1888 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee and redeveloped in 2005 as part of an urban renewal programme, of city aesthetics which another generation once enjoyed.

Trams

Old photos take you back to an even older Broad Street with the scene of trams running through the street on a route that took them up to Hastings, Christ Church.

Concerned about declining traffic, business closures and the loss of the City’s status as a commercial hub, prominent Bridgetown businessman Eddy Abed and other Bridgetown business people have been advocating for Broad Street’s redevelopment. That could well be on the cards in Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley’s vision to bring back life to the City, with a happy mixture of city dwelling and city commerce that includes the kind of facilities which those city dwellers will need.

Abed has advocated for a comprehensive, joint approach between the Government and private sector to redevelop Broad Street and broader Bridgetown. He supports modernising the capital, while also highlighting the need for functional, attractive spaces to revive commercial activity.

Present-day Jubilee Gardens at Lower Broad Street is a hive of activity with vendors.

The view across the Inner Basin of the reconfigured Careenage, looking to Independence Square.

A view down Broad Street yesterday.