In the final installment on the rich cultural heritage and history of the Free Village of Kitson Town, we now  examine the remnants of post-emancipation Jamaica and plans for the 21st century.

The Free Village of Kitson Town near the old Jamaican capital of Spanish Town in St. Catherine continues to impress me with the wealth of its cultural heritage – both tangible and intangible. In Part I of this series, I looked at evidence of the Tainos and early Europeans, and in Part II  I focused on the legacy of slavery. I will now be looking at evidence of post-emancipation activity in Kitson Town and share the community’s vision for 21st century development.

FOOTSTEPS OF OUR FOREFATHERS

Cornerstone in memory of Rev. Terence M. Sherlock at Red Hills Methodist Church

Red Hills Methodist Church

Kitson Town, as with every community in Jamaica, is rife with churches of all denominations. However, not all Jamaican churches possess traces of the nation’s founding fathers. This is the case of the Red Hills Methodist Church which has a cornerstone laid in the memory of Rev. T. M. (Terence Manderson) Sherlock, laid by his son Sir Philip M. Sherlock.  

Rev. Terence Sherlock was the father of Rev. Hugh B. Sherlock, who among others things, penned  Jamaica’s National Pledge, and in 1962, wrote the words of Jamaica’s National Anthem, Jamaica, Land We Love. His brother, Sir Philip was an author and educator, becoming the Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies in 1964. It is also said that the families of Norman Washington Manley and Alexander Bustamante, two of Jamaica’s National Heroes attended this church. 

The Kitson Town Baptist Church possesses a legacy that pre-dates that of Red Hills Methodist. This takes the form a church bell that was founded in 1893. It is a sad reflection of current Jamaican society that it has to be locked away in order to protect it from being stolen for the scrap metal industry. 

Church bell at Kitson Town Baptist Church, manufactured in 1893

The Kitson Town Baptist Church

Both the Kitson Town Baptist Church and the Red Hills Methodist Church are built from cut limestone, in a technique that harks back to the days of slavery. The existing structures appear to be built in the 20th century.

A sight that gave me food for thought was the building that was the former home of the former Mayor of Spanish Town, Arthur King. The building is a good example of Jamaica’s vernacular architecture, and now serves as a shop.

Former residence of the former Mayor of Spanish Town, Arthur King

To me, the most interesting building was a small abandoned structure on the main road between the Methodist and Baptist churches. This building is a legacy of a construction technique that dates to 16th century Jamaica known as wattle and daub. According to the Encyclopedia of Jamaican Heritage, this method uses red clay plastered over a wooden frame of woven wattles. The framework of wattles – consisting of a flexible round wood such as bamboo – is built first and then dried and shrunk. A plaster consisting of lime, earth, mortar or clay is daubed over the framework, encasing it. 

Wattle and Daub House, dated to circa 1932.

THE WAY FORWARD 

In order for Kitson Town to make the most of its rich cultural heritage, it has to tap its greatest resource – its people. Efforts are being made to do this, as was in evidence at the recent Emancipation Vigil held on the grounds of the Kitson Town Baptist Church on July 31, the eve of Jamaica’s Emancipation Day. 

Residents of Kitson Town dancing during Emancipation Vigil on July 31, 2019.

Emancipation Vigils are held in some Jamaican communities to enact and remember when the Emancipation Proclamation was read on August 1, 1838, giving Jamaica’s slaves full freedom. At Kitson Town this vigil took the form of cultural performances, the serving of Jamaican food, Jamaican music, reflections of Jamaica and Kitson Town’s history and prayer and thanksgiving.

Ms Singh dressed in her Jamaican bandana

Guest speaker was sustainable development consultant Robert Kerr, who emphasized that in order for Jamaica and Kitson Town to move forward in the 21st century, restoration of the people must take place. This restoration has to occur mentally, socially, spiritually and in terms of reconnecting to the land.

High School student Kevin performs.

I was impressed by the variety of cultural presentations. The performers included a high school student, a church deacon, and a police inspector. Presentations included folk tales, singing and gospel dub poetry. Enthusiastic dancing and singing by both young and old to Jamaica’s late cultural icon Ms. Lou (Louise Bennett-Coverly) took place, and it was only fitting that midnight prayers were preceded by Bob Marley’s Redemption Songs.

Based on the cultural wealth that exists in Kitson Town, it is only apt that the Kitson Town Community Development Committee (CDC) seeks to build on this wealth in order to achieve sustainable development. By so doing, it is in line with an objective of the 1841 creation of Kitson Town, which was to “…materially contribute to the comfort and advantage of the (residents), and to a more extensive and ready development of the resources of the country.” 

A solemn moment before prayers at midnight

Last week we examined evidence of early Jamaicans in Kitson Town and its environs. Today we look at slavery’s legacy.

After my first sojourn into Kitson Town (as described in Part I) I was fortunate to be invited by members of the Kitson Town Community Development Committee (CDC) on a community tour of heritage sites that they undertook in order to educate community members of the rich history present in their community. 

SLAVERY’S LEGACY

Shackles at The Hub Gallery

According to Olive Senior’s Encyclopedia of Jamaican Heritage,  no slavery occurred in the western hemisphere before the arrival of the Europeans. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to start the slave trade, and so the first Africans that arrived in Jamaica were West Africans that the Spanish carried from the Iberian Peninsula. In the 1570 census of the Spanish Caribbean – 76 years after the arrival to Jamaica of the Spanish – there was a population of 56,000 Africans and enslaved descendants.  After the British captured Jamaica in 1655, the African population increased rapidly due to the slave trade.  

The grave of a person born in 1824 and died in 1920 at the Red Hills Methodist Church, Kitson Town.

They arrived mainly from the Gold Coast and the Slave Coast (in Ghana and Nigeria respectively) to work in the sugar plantations. Slavery continued in the British West Indies until the full emancipation of slaves in 1838. Hundreds of thousands of slaves arrived, and as Olive Senior states “deaths consistently outstripped births, and infant mortality soared” during slavery. 

In Kitson Town, there are many remnants of slavery in this location. A grave on the grounds of the Red Hills Methodist Church contains the remains of an individual that was born during slavery in 1824. At The Hub Gallery, a set of shackles worn by the slaves is on display. Mr Napier, artisan and proprietor of the gallery says that they are not uncommon throughout the community.

The former court house of the parish of St. John at Kitson Town

Present in Kitson Town are what are described as two Great Houses, both of which are occupied. When I asked if they were going to be a part of the proposed heritage trail, I was told that the occupants did not wish to participate at this time. One of these great houses was reputed to be a former Court House.    

The haunted pond

An interesting site is across the road from the former Court House. This is the Haunted Pond, where it is said that slaves are buried. A lady described how, as a child, she had nightmares about the place, and when it flooded the road, no one dared cross it.  Although it was currently dry due to the ongoing drought, it still emitted an eerie vibe.

We were also able to visit structures located on the former sugar estate that owe their existence to slave labour. These are an aqueduct, a water wheel, and a sugar house.

Water Wheel

Overgrown aqueduct

The aqueduct was overgrown and in ruin and the water wheel had a tree growing around it. One of the tour organisers said that is probably what kept it from being stolen by scrap metal merchants. Within the sugar house itself, many of the archways were infilled with concrete blocks, with the original material no longer there.

The Sugar House at Kitson Town

PUTTING UP RESISTANCE

Although slavery dominated Jamaica’s history from the 16th century to 1838, the enslaved Africans put up resistance in the forms of Maroon Wars and island-wide revolts. In the nearby community of Top Mountain, there is a fascinating legacy of Maroon activity at Arch Cave.  

Members of Kitson Town examining Arch Cave, Top Hill, St. Catherine

Arch Cave is connected to the First Maroon wars in that the great Maroon fighter Cudjoe was reputed to use it to travel underground. According to the National Library of Jamaica, the First Maroon Wars started in 1655 when the British invaded Jamaica, and ended on March 1, 1739 with the signing of a peace treaty between the Leeward Maroons and the British. Cudjoe was the leader of the Leeward Maroons at the time, and was a fearsome warrior who escaped from the Sutton sugar estate in the nearby parish of Clarendon. 

Michael Archer indicating the location of a subterranean tunnel

Michael Archer, on whose land the cave is located, stated that he has travelled underground for several miles, and further states that it is possible to walk underground to the community of Barry, 20 kilometres away. Arch Cave is a wet cave, populated by bats and with a floor rich with guano. Ornate stalactites adorn the roof of the cave, and a deep cavern at the cave mouth has facilitated weddings and other functions. 

Bats nesting and flying at Arch Cave

A stalactite at Arch Cave

In Part III of “Treasures of KItson Town” we will examine the remnants of post-emancipation Jamaica and plans for the 21st century.